Legends Book I
by Xyex
Summary: How do I summerize this thing? Well, they're in highschool. Sai-jins are just legends. Well, read the first chapter and you'll have and idea of what this'll be like.
1. An all but forgotten legend

A/N: This takes place in an AU. The first few chapters explain a lot of the details though. I think you may like this one, if you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it, and if you do then check out my other stories. As always "Speech" /Thoughts/ and ~Telepathy~ R&R please.  
  
Chapter one - An all but forgotten legend  
  
The sound of fingers clicking across a keyboard sounded throughout the room. The small room, small only in comparison to the rest of the rooms in the building, was strewn with dirty clothes, crumples of paper, tattered notebooks, floppy disks, CD roms, maps, history books, and various books on myths and legends. The queen sized bed, four of the chairs, and the two couches in the room were also buried under piles of debris. The only clean spot in the room was the computer desk and the chair where the room's owner sat.  
  
Fifteen year old Bulma Briefs, child genius and daughter of world famous Dr. Briefs, worked furiously at her computer trying to pull up any information she could on the ancient legend that had drawn her interests while also writing a computer program. Her mythology teacher had assigned a report to the class the week before that required they research an old legend. He'd said that the more obscure and the more complex the legend the more points it would be worth.  
  
When she'd approached him with her topic he'd been surprised, not even he'd heard much about this legend. That meant she was assured an A. Especially now that she'd learned that the Legend of the Dragonballs was so closely tied to some other very obscure legends. The one that held her interest the most was the Legend of the Sai-jins. So far she'd pieced together that the word Sai-jin had meant either Warrior Angel or Guardian Angel, perhaps both. She'd also found out that the Sai-jins had fought in a war called the Great Clash in which the gods, or Kai's according to legend, had fought to save the entire universe from the Demon realm and it's leader Majin Buu.  
  
In that battle many Kai's and Sai-jins were killed. In fact, it stated that only ten Sai-jins survived. Unfortunately she'd not yet found any name's, not a single one. At least, not for the Sai-jins. What she had found were names of Kai's. Shin, officially Kaio-Shin. He'd been a child by Kai standards, only a million years old, and the youngest Supreme Kai, they oversaw the affairs of the entire universe. Sheba, officially Kaio-Sheba. At the time of the war she'd been the Grand Kai for the galaxy in which Earth rested and another 'child' at four hundred thousand years.  
  
There had also been mention of a King Kai, also something of a child at only ten thousand years. Legends said he was the North Kai and oversaw the northern sector of their galaxy, the sector in which Earth rested. Though she had name's for the Kai's she had no descriptions for them, while the opposite was true for the Sai-jins. Still, those were general descriptions. A golden glow, golden hair, green eyes, and that was it. Not much to go on but still very distinctive.  
  
She turned her attention from the web search to the program she was writing as she took a drink from the soda beside her. No, scratch that, it was pure caffeine. That's what she needed though, she'd been awake for over twenty four hours, ever since she'd gotten free from her father's lab the other day (she'd gotten caught up in his time travel research). As she read through lines of code she checked the clock, 8:36 A.M. She stared at it for a second then blinked like that would change the time, sure enough it did. Now she was thirty-seven minutes late for school!  
  
"Shit!" she cried getting up from the chair. She bent over the keyboard as her feet moved away from the desk toward the exit and set up the program to compile, it would be ready by the end of school and she could download it at last. As she pressed the last key she turned, walked toward her door, grabbed the light blue jacket off the wall that bore the Capsule Corp logo, slipped her feet into her shoes, and grabbed her backpack off the wall beside her.  
  
She ran quickly down the hall, down six flights of stairs, through the kitchen (grabbing an apple as she passed) and out the door. In a second she was on her air bike and speeding down the road toward Orange Star High. She pulled up a few minutes later and capsulized her bike. As she ran through the front doors she made note of the time, 8:53, she still had two minutes until class change. Quickly she slipped into the attendance office and smiled as she saw who was at the desk today.  
  
"Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes Chi." she said catching her breath.  
  
Chi-Chi looked up from the papers in front of her and smiled back. "Lost track of time again huh? You're as bad as your father Bulma, you know that?"  
  
"Not yet, but getting there. Any chance you can get me excused?"  
  
Chi-Chi looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. A second later she produced a capsule from her pocket. "Here, put this in place of your bike. It's my air bike, only it's broken. Show that to Principal Satan and he should let you off."  
  
Bulma took the capsule. "You are a life saver Chi, I wont forget this."  
  
"You'd better not."  
  
As Bulma turned to walk to Principal Satan's office she ran smack into someone following onto her ass with a thud. "Oww, watch where you're..." she stopped as she looked up and saw a pair of deep black eyes glaring daggers down at her. That face, those eyes, the hair, the chiseled muscles, and the ever present frown left no doubt that she'd just run into Vegeta, the local tough guy. He wasn't exactly a bully, he didn't beat you up for your lunch money, he beat you up because you ticked him off.  
  
"You blind woman?" he demanded. "Use your eyes and watch where you're going." he brushed off the front of his white T-shirt before adjusting the open black leather jacket. With that task finished he walked from the office and back into the school halls as the bell rang for class change.  
  
"Arrogant jerk." Bulma spat standing up and adjusting her skirt back into position. "I swear, he acts like he's a prince or something. I can't wait until he gets pounded someday."  
  
Chi-Chi laughed. "That wont be happening any day soon I don't think. But that don't change the fact that you've got a crush on him, now does it?"  
  
"What!" Bulma cried. "You've got to be kidding! Me! Like him! Besides, I'm dating Yamcha."  
  
Chi-Chi just giggled and shook her head. "You'd better hurry up, the later you are the less chance you have of getting off free."   
  
Still grumbling under her breath Bulma made her way into Principal Satan's office. "Sir, Chi-Chi told me to explain my situation to you..."  
  
"What's up kid?" he asked as he shadow boxed behind his desk. Not only was he the Principal of Orange Star High but the karate instructor for the school and the current Champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament and the only one in the school who likely stood a chance of beating Vegeta in a fight.  
  
Bulma held up the capsule containing Chi-Chi's broken air bike. "Well sir, my air bike wouldn't start this morning so I had to walk to school... I just got here a moment ago."  
  
"Ah I see." Jab. Jab. Dodge. Jab. Dodge. Dodge. "Tell Cha... Tree... uh, the girl outside to excuse you then." Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab-Jab. Dodge. Jab.  
  
"Thank-you sir." Bulma bowed and walked out leaving a grinning and training Hercule behind her. She grinned as well as she gave Chi-Chi back her capsule, got her excuse, and made her way to the second class of the day. She was actually happy to have missed her fist class though, she didn't much care for phys ed. to tell the truth. But she was rushing through the halls to make it to her second class in time, she had mythology next and today was supposed to be a progress report on your research. She was egger to see what the other kids where doing, and to see what Mr. Cross thought of her progress.  
  
She reached the class just a few seconds after the bell and everyone watched as she came in. "A little late Ms. Briefs? It's not exactly like you to be late to my class."  
  
"Sorry sir, had bike trouble." she handed him her pass and he nodded. She turned and took her seat as Mr. Cross turned toward the board.  
  
"Alright people. This is a progress report day, the first of eight over the two months you have to work on this project. I want to hear what you've learned about all of your different topics. But keep it short, only tell me the most important details of the main legend and anything pertaining to it that you've found. Short but informative. I expect you wont have much trouble with that will you Raeza (pronounced Raise-ah)." he said with a smile. A young blonde at the front of the room looked up at him with a confused expression that caused the entire room to giggle. /I can only imagine what her kids will be like./ Bulma thought.  
  
"Anyway," continued the teacher. "We'll be doing this in alphabetical order, by last name, so Yano Abe is first."  
  
Yano stood up and walked to the front of the class. "I'm doing my report on the Legend of Garlic Jr. I've not found out exactly what Garlic Jr. was perceived as, though most likely they felt him a demon. Garlic Jr. was the son of Garlic and sought the same thing as his father, to overthrow a being named Kami. I've yet to find who exactly Kami is though."  
  
/Kami?/ Bulma wondered as she thought. /I know I've read that name recently... but... No way, my legend overlaps that much?! Awesome. I'm going to get an A+ on this report. And now I've got another angle to work from, Garlic Jr. This is perfect, and when I get home my radar program will be ready and I'll know for sure if there are any Dragonballs. That would be the perfect addition to my report, having an actual Dragonball./  
  
The class continued on like this for then next five minutes before Bulma was finally called to maker her progress report. "Bulma has chosen what may be the most difficult legend of them all to work with, the Legend of the Dragonballs. Bulma."  
  
"Thank you." she walked up to the front of the class. "The Dragonballs are ancient and magical artifacts. There are seven in all and when all of them are gathered together you can summon the Eternal Dragon. The only way though is to know the Dragon's name, I've not learned that yet though. I've also learned that the Dragonballs were created by the 'Guardian of the Earth'.  
  
"I've not learned much about this being either, no name, only the title. Beyond that I've learned that the Dragonballs were also used by people in another legend. The Legend of the Sai-jins. What I've learned about them is that they are either Warrior Angels or Guardian Angels. Either way they defended the world, and the universe, from utter destruction at the hands of the Demon King, Majin Buu."  
  
Bulma mentioned a few other details, like that the Guardian of Earth was able to be in two places at once because he'd become two people. One oversaw the Earth and watched events from above where he could see everything. The other half was a powerful warrior that did all the fighting to protect the Earth.  
  
The rest of the class went after her, and as usual Raeza had no idea what exactly was going on. She had a progress report though, on how far along she was on her research of Cosmetica, supposedly some sort of demon lady that never wore make-up and caused girls mascara to run at the worst times. It was actually well thought out for a Raeza plan, of course it seemed to Bulma that Shrapnel was grinning the entire time. He'd probably told her what to say.  
  
About forty minutes later the bell rang and class ended. As Bulma walked into the hall the sound of shouting echoed from down to her right. She made her way through the crowd listening to the cries and cheers. Obviously a fight had broken out. When she reached the sight of the fight her eyes bulged slightly. 


	2. Rumble in the halls

Chapter two - Rumble in the halls  
  
So far today had been an uneventful first day at a new school. As Goku dug through his locker for his history book his best friend Krillin was going on about some blond girl he'd met in his first class. "I'm telling you bro, Eve is... she's like a goddess." Goku heard a chuckle from behind him and turned as he closed his locker. His eyes went wide with shock as he smiled.  
  
"Brolly! I didn't know this is where you'd moved to!" he exclaimed, excited to finally meet up with his old rival. The two of them had been top students in their martial arts schools, schools which had been rivals in every tournament they'd ever been to. It pretty much always came down to Goku and Brolly in the final match, they'd split their victory counts right down the middle. Despite their constant fighting in the tournaments their rivalry had sparked something of a friendship between the two.  
  
"Goku, I'd heard you were moving here. Finally get tired of the mountains?" Goku's smile faded slightly as Krillin looked at the ground rubbing his feet together. "What is it? Did something happen?"  
  
Goku nodded. "Yeah... Grandpa Gohan... passed away a couple weeks ago. He was getting kind of old..." Grandpa Gohan had adopted Goku and raised him, after he'd lost his family in a massive fire. He'd also adopted Krillin since the two had been best friends in their orphanage. He'd even taught Brolly how to use his KI so as to keep the matches between the two rivals interesting.  
  
"No way, that's..." Brolly said sadly. "Wow, Grandpa G's really gone?"  
  
Krillin nodded this time. "Yeah... but he set Goku and I up here in town with a friend of his, Master Roshi, so we've been staying with him."  
  
That's when the sounds of shouting rang out from down the hall. The three turned their attentions toward the yells and frowned, they could feel two strong people from down that way. Brolly sighed. "I know that one power, that's Vegeta. Thinks he's the strongest person on Earth, though he might just get there in a few years. Don't know who he's fighting this time but they feel fairly even."  
  
Goku's face lit up with a big grin. "Come on, let's check it out!"  
  
******  
  
A group of teachers had worked their way through the gathered crowd of students but weren't attempting to breakup the fight that wasn't really a fight just yet. As one teacher went off to get the principal everyone watched as the two students circled each other. Neither of them had made a move yet, they were still eyeing each other up.  
  
One was a bit short for his age, though the big spiky hair more than compensated for his height difference. Vegeta had tossed his leather jacket to the side, some girl was holding it like it was a sacred artifact. His t-shirt had it's sleeves torn off and everyone could see his muscular arms.  
  
The most shocking feature of the other person was the fact that she was, well, a she. Vegeta had never fought a girl before, no girl had ever tried to fight him before either. Bulma didn't recognize her though. She'd never seen the girl before. She wore a pair of red boots, a blue mini-skirt, a black tank top, and a denim jacket with the sleeves cut off. She had light blue eyes and shoulder length blond hair.  
  
"Hey, that's her. That's Eve." Krillin said pointing as the three pushed through the crowd stopping beside Bulma.  
  
"She's got some power." Goku said eyeing them up. "They both do." he turned to his taller friend. "Do you know her Brolly?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, I think she just started here a few days ago."  
  
Bulma snorted. "Explains why she's willing to fight with Vegeta. Girl don't know what she's doing."  
  
Brolly and Goku smiled. "I wouldn't bet on that." Goku said.  
  
Meanwhile Vegeta had decided to talk. "Look girl. I don't feel like putting you in the hospital. I'd be forced to pay the bills and you're not worth it." Vegeta said coldly.  
  
She smiled slightly. "Like I'm afraid of you. I've put a number of guys in the hospital at my last few schools."  
  
"You've a lot to learn girl." he growled. He lanced out with a simple punch putting little power behind it.   
  
She slipped around the fist and brought her foot up into his stomach. He jerked back holding his stomach and growling some more. Suddenly his other fist shot out. Eve tried started to dodge but was clipped in the shoulder. As she winced from the blow a foot came up and slammed into her stomach knocking her onto her back. "Let that be a lesson to you." Vegeta said hotly before turning from her.  
  
"This isn't over." Eve shouted climbing to her feet.  
  
"You don't know when to quit, do you girl?" Vegeta said looking back at her. "If I wasn't in such a pissed mood I might appreciate your determination, but you're just pissing me off more."  
  
"Then sorry if this really pisses you off." she said, eyes gleaming.   
  
Vegeta turned around to face her again and squinted as he felt... power? Then he saw the spark of energy in her hand. As he realized what she was about to do her hand shot out and he was flung across the hall into some lockers denting them a bit. As he slumped to the ground the crowd pulled back from Eve.  
  
"Impressive." Brolly said from the sidelines. "She can use KI attacks. I wonder who she trained under?"  
  
As she stood there staring at Vegeta he began to move. As he stood he held his forehead, which was now pounding, and slammed his left shoulder into the lockers relocating it with loud pop. "Bitch!" he spat. "You want to fight like that then fine!"  
  
"Not good." Brolly said tensing. "Be ready you two, I think Vegeta's about to pop, this is not good."  
  
Eve just smirked. "You probably don't even know what I just did." she said laughing.  
  
"It was damned KI attack!" he shouted.  
  
"What's with all the swearing!" a voice boomed over the crowd. Suddenly the students parted as the Principal, Hercule Satan, made his way through. "Ah, Vegeta! I should have known you were the cause of this! Didn't I just suspend you this morning!?"  
  
"Buzz off!" Vegeta demanded. "This is between me and the witch." He whipped his arm up and thrust an open palm in Hercule's direction. "You may be physically stronger than me but until you can master the use of KI I can still kick your ass."  
  
Now Hercule was fuming. "You listen here you little..." he shouted walking toward Vegeta. Vegeta scowled and his arm jerked. Suddenly Hercule was sent flying backward into the throngs of people.  
  
"Now stay out of this!" he roared turning back to Eve. "Now where were we? Ah yes, I was just about to smear you across the lockers. Just be glad there isn't enough room in this place to use anything with any real power." With that he thrust both arms toward her causing a massive gust of wind that slammed Eve back into the lockers and making a metal crater around her. As the force blast died off she slumped to the ground. Vegeta was just about to leave when she stood back up. As she got to her feet he growled again glaring at her.  
  
"Knock it off Eve." A voice said across from where Goku stood. Everyone looked toward the teen. He wore a pair of blue and white sneakers, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. His eyes were the same light blue as Eve's and his hair was shoulder length.  
  
She turned to look at him and frowned. "Aw, come on Adam. I'm just having a little fun."  
  
"Eve..."  
  
She sighed again. "I guess you're right, don't want to injure myself before the tournament."  
  
"Of course I'm right." he said as the two walked off down the hall. "Big brothers are always right."  
  
Vegeta glared after them, his arms twitching, a scowl on his face. His shirt began to wave up, his pants were flapping as well. Goku could see the dust dancing around his feet as his anger forced his KI from his body. One of the bad side effects to being able to control your KI, sometimes you couldn't.  
  
Brolly walked up to Vegeta but made sure not to get to close, he didn't want to set him off and injure anyone who was to close. "Relax Vegeta, she said she's going to be in the tournament, save it for the ring. I know you're entering."  
  
The dust and his clothes settled. "Just you wait girl." he said coldly, so low only Brolly heard it, barely. "Come the tournament you're mine. No body makes a fool of Vegeta, I'm the Prince of all Sai-jins." With that he turned and stormed from the hall, grabbing his jacket, and leaving Hercule to stare after them both.  
  
A/N: Eh, what's this? Vegeta knows about the Sai-jins? Well now... and there's a tournament coming up (but it's a few months off yet, still have more to do before it starts). A quick note on knowledge of KI and powers. Everyone knows about KI, there's a number of people who can use KI, but it takes most people years to learn unless they have a really good master or just adept at it's use. As for powers, people wont be nearly as powerful as the series. All within normal boundaries, but KI adds an extra oomph to stuff, and can pack quite a punch, as you'll see. This will all become obvious as the story goes so, I'll stop here. 


	3. The one star ball

A/N: As I've said before "Speech", /Thought/, ~Telepathy~, but there's another one I forgot about. *Memory* It's for remembered conversations, flash back kind of things.  
  
Chapter three - The one star ball  
  
The talk the rest of the day at school had been the fight in the halls, Vegeta's departure from school, and Eve's subsequent suspension for that fight. Bulma hadn't paid much attention to the rest of her classes though as she kept running idea's through her head. She was so focused on her mythology project, and getting home to transfer her program, that she ran into Goku as she was leaving.  
  
"Oh, sorry about that." she said as Brolly helped her up while Krillin picked up something that Goku had dropped and Goku stood up on his own.  
  
"That's okay." Goku said smiling as Krillin handed him a small orange ball with four stars inside. Bulma only barely noticed it making a mental note that it would look nice if it were smaller and an earring, and that it looked familiar.  
  
After that her mind shifted gears back to the fight earlier, and the fact that Eve could use KI attacks. That was a skill that many martial artists strove to learn, and almost as many never attained. Everyone had been shocked by Vegeta's use of KI attacks, and the power at which he could use them. There were only three types of people when it came to using KI attacks, those who couldn't master it, those who after years of practice could, and those who were highly adept at it and needed only a good teacher. The question was, who taught Vegeta, and now, who taught Eve?  
  
Bulma was pulled out of her thoughts by a horn honking. She looked around and realized she'd walked four blocks. Reaching into her jacket she pulled out her capsules and grabbed her air bike. A few seconds later she was zooming through the air towards the Capsule Corp compound.  
  
******  
  
"Yaaaaaaaaaaa!" Vegeta's cry rang out as the deep purple energy surged from his open palm on his outstretched arm toward the six foot thick steel block ten yards away. He strained with effort as he forced the energy out, as concentrated as he could get it. Finally he eased up and stopped the attack. Panting he stared at the block he'd been attacking... the only sign he'd even hit the thing was the glowing red circle where the blast had hit. "Grrrrrrr, didn't even start to melt the damned thing!"  
  
Vegeta froze as he heard a giggle in his head and memory came unbidden into his thoughts. *Vegeta... you're never going to get good if you're always so tense.* a young girls voice laughed. He could see himself, only eight years old, standing a few yards away from a tin can. He'd just used a KI stream to attack the can but had only moved it, didn't warm it up any, or even knock it over. His younger self relaxed slightly and smiled as he turned to look at the young girl with black eyes and spiky black hair.  
  
She was about six years old and wore a frilly pink dress. *You want to try it again Vegena?* he asked. *You'd almost had it last time.*  
  
*Naw.* she said shaking her head. *That's okay big brother, daddy says I should wait a few years yet before trying or I might hurt myself.*  
  
Vegeta just smiled. But as he stood there he saw his father stumble from their home and into the yard, blood running down his arms, chin, and legs. He reached out toward them then collapsed to the ground. That's when Vegeta first saw it, he'd seen drawings of them before, but this was the first time he'd seen one in person. It was short, about his height, and green with pure red eyes. It's head looked almost like an exposed green brain, and actually was. A Sibamen. He could see the damage his father had done to the demon.  
  
Suddenly, with an ear splitting screech, it lunged at Vegena and thrust it's left claw into her chest as she turned. *NO! VEGENA!* he cried running toward the demon. As it pulled it's bloodied arm from her body it clutched her heart in it's fist and laughed at him showing its sharp teeth. Vegeta's arm's lanced forward and a stream of purple energy tore forward and into the creature.  
  
When the attack died it still stood, though upon shaky legs. His attack had made little difference, and wouldn't have made any difference if his father hadn't fought it first. As it regained it's balance it laughed again and lunged at him. Vegeta jumped in reflex and saw his chance. Instantly he fired the last of his KI downward into the demon's head, through it's exposed and undefended brain. The green demon fell over dead and began to decay, a second later it was gone. Not that Vegeta noticed. He'd blacked out the instant he'd fired the attack and fell to the ground.  
  
Back in the present Vegeta was on one knee, a tear rolling down his cheek, his fists clenched tightly, blue and purple energy dancing about them. Suddenly his fist slammed into the concrete beneath him cracking and chipping it. "I will have my REVENGE!" he shouted choking back sobs. A moment later he was on his feet again, another deep purple stream of energy pouring out at the steel slab.  
  
******  
  
"Welcome back boys... who's your friend?" Master Roshi asked.  
  
"This is Brolly." Goku said motioning back. "He's a friend of ours and even trained with us and Grandpa Gohan."  
  
"It's nice to meet you Brolly, you going to be training with us today? We've only got four months until the next World Martial Arts tournament."  
  
"Sure, I'm planning on entering, once I've gotten the ten thousand Zeni entry fee. I'm still working on that."  
  
Master Roshi smiled. "You have a Master to enter under?" Brolly shook his head no. Roshi grinned. "Then how about you enter as a student of mine? I'll cover the entry fee, provided you train well between now and then."  
  
"Fight with Goku instead of against him? Sure, I'm always up for something new."  
  
"Good." Roshi said nodding. "You boys ready to start? We've got a fairly long flight ahead of us to our training spot."  
  
The three nodded and a moment later they were flying from the city towards the ocean and Roshi Island where they would spend the weekend training. It took almost two hours to reach the island. When they landed Roshi eyed them all up for a moment. "First, I need to speak with you Brolly. You trained with Gohan?"  
  
"A little."  
  
"He was a student of mine once, wasn't to interested in strength though so he never got stronger than me, but his discipline and skill were superb. You can fly so you have some control of your KI, tell me, have you mastered any KI attacks?"  
  
"I can use KI attacks, but I've not mastered them."  
  
"What about the Kamehameha Wave?"  
  
Brolly nodded. "I can use it, though it's not one of best attacks yet, it's subtleties still elude me."  
  
Roshi nodded slowly as he rubbed his chin. "That's good to hear, you're honest, modest, and not a conceited fool. That's always good to hear. Let's see just how each of you compare in KI first, then I'll do a comparison of you're physical power, and we'll finish up with a speed and technique comparison.  
  
"Now, let's start with you Brolly. Let's see how much power your Kamehameha Wave does have. That'll show me just how much control you do have over your KI as well as how much of punch it packs."  
  
Brolly turned and looked out across the ocean, he could see the shore in any direction. That was good. He braced his legs, pulled back his arms, and began to charge the attack. Roshi watched his form from behind his dark sunglasses as the glow of the blue KI began to form. As per Roshi's order Brolly channeled all his KI into his Kamehameha Wave doing his best to create a perfect wave, despite the fact it was one of the most complex KI attacks he'd ever attempted.  
  
With a quick fluid motion he fired the attack out across the ocean parting the water as it went. Roshi focused on watching the energy. He could tell much about Brolly's skill with his KI by watching the attack. The light blue tone told him the attack was scattered, not nearly as focused as it could be. That meant Brolly's ability to concentrate energy into one place was lower, lowering the power he could exert in these attacks.  
  
The white energy in the wave's center that seeped through in places showed that he had trouble calling up and using his KI, apparently he could use the energy but wasn't to skilled in bringing it out. Finally, the amount of power he felt radiating from the wave told him how much power Brolly's could use. It was impressive indeed for someone so young and with such little training to have KI with that kind of power.  
  
"Very nicely done." Roshi said turning toward Krillin. "You're up next Krillin. Let's see what you can do."  
  
******  
  
Bulma pounded her fists on her desk in frustration. She'd gone through twelve algorithms already and still couldn't filter out the energy sources around her. Though she'd hit one algorithm she made note of, it seemed to be able to read KI levels. That might be worth something later one. Right now though she wanted only one source of energy, and she'd yet to find it. /I've got to face the chance that there are no such things as Dragonballs./ she thought sourly. /But until I've searched every possible algorithm I'll keep looking. Though it would help if the legends at least described these things... for all I know I own one of them!/  
  
She ran her fingers along the keyboard as she plugged in the new algorithm. A moment later it was done and the small device in front of her beeped. Once, twice.... then stopped. Then it beeped twice again. She looked down at it and watched as the search line as it picked up two objects. One was close, the other a few miles away, about forty or fifty. She got up, watching the radar, and tracking the reading.  
  
She made her way out of her room, and down a hall. Rounding a corner she almost ran into someone but kept on going, the signal getting closer. Quickly she zoomed in on it, then brought up the map overlay. "It is in the compound... but... where?" She zoomed out a bit then froze. "My fathers lab? Well, guess I'll check it out."  
  
Quickly she made her way through the halls and into her fathers lab. She looked around for anything, scanning the area for the artifact. She knew it had to be real, there was no other way so many stories would have mentioned them otherwise. She stopped and looked at where the radar said the Dragonball was. She saw it, sitting just inside a small tank, and remembered her father showing it to her. He'd found one day, about two years ago, and been studying it since trying to figure out what it was made of in hopes of making other things as durable as it. It was kind of small, orange, and had one star in it's center. "Wow it's... beautiful." 


	4. The search begins!

Chapter four - The search begins!  
  
Bulma slipped on her backpack, which currently held the one star ball, as she got her hover bike out. Yamcha stood a few yards away leaning against the Capsule Corp. building. "Come on Bulma... can't you see how ridiculous this is? I mean really, magic balls, a dragon that grants wishes? Sounds like a fairytale to me."  
  
"Well I don't care what it sounds like to you." she said glaring at him. "These things are real and they emit energy so therefore they must have some secret and the most logical one is..."  
  
"An ancient legend?" Yamcha scoffed.  
  
"It's not that ancient." Bulma yelled fuming.  
  
"Yeah, only twenty five thousand years. Come on, let's head out for Pizza or something, I want to relax a little before I start training for the tournament again."  
  
"Look, either you come with me or you can get lost. I'm going after the Dragonballs."  
  
Yamcha sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll come along."  
  
Bulma smiled nodded. "Good. Now we have to go pick up Chi-Chi, she said she wants to come to."  
  
******  
  
Deep within West City a small black cat woke suddenly from it's sleep and began hissing at a brick wall a few yards away. It arched its back, its hair stood up on end, and it bared its teeth as a deep growl emanated from it. The wall across the way rippled and shimmered green, then red, then blue. Bursts of blue and red energy exploded from the wall as a small, clawed, green hand poked from the glowing hole in the wall.  
  
The clawed hand latched on to the wall as a second hand emerged. Slowly, and with some trouble, the creature pulled itself from the tear in space. Growling and screeching the short Saibaman stood as the hole closed behind it. As it spied the cat it thrust its arm out sending a stream of white energy that engulfed and incinerated the cat. Laughing and screeching the Saibaman made its way from the alley.  
  
It stopped suddenly and stared at a form standing before it. A tall man in a deep blue outfit with large muscles and a turban. The Saibaman didn't know this person but could sense the KI emanating from his body. The creature took a hesitant step backwards, then turned and fled. The man reached out an arm and pointed a finger at the fleeing Demon. "Dodon Ray!" A baseball sized stream of golden energy sped from his finger, through the air, and tore through the creature's head.  
  
"That makes ten of them this week." a young man with short spiky red hair and wearing a black GI said from behind the other. "Looks like they were right, the barrier's weakening."  
  
"Looks that way." said the man in blue as he turned to look at the other. "I don't think it'll be long now before stronger Demons begin to break through."  
  
"I think they've already started." said the other. "I've heard reports of Ballins in the streets."  
  
"Ballins? Are you sure?"  
  
"I've not seen one myself yet but we'll know soon enough. I've got no doubt that Kui will be coming through the barrier once it's weak enough. I think you should enter the tournament Tien."  
  
"The tournament? Why?"  
  
"You're the most skilled fighter we've got and the tournament's the perfect place to find new warriors. If you win we'll still know who's got skill but... if you're beaten..."  
  
Tien smiled. "Right, you're my sparring partner though Hiro."  
  
The red head pretended to wince. "Break out the Senzu's." he said grinning. "But I think you should visit your old Master first. He may know some people worth our time."  
  
Tien nodded. "Right, let's get going."  
  
******  
  
There was a wicked crack as Goku's right fist slammed into Brolly's right fist. The two teens grinned at each other as Krillin and Roshi watched them. "You've improved since our last match." Brolly said. "There was a time a punch like that would have knocked you on your ass."  
  
Goku smirked. "There was time you'd have seen this coming." Brolly's eyes widened as he pulled back from Goku but the weak KI blast from his left hand still nailed him in his side knocking him to the ground. Goku walked over to his friend and held out his hand grinning.  
  
Shaking his head and laughing lightly Brolly reached up and got pulled to his feet. "Nice move."  
  
Roshi walked up to him. "Nice indeed, but it wouldn't have worked if you'd been focused." Roshi crossed his arms behind his back and looked off into the distance. "It would seem we have some company..." he said at last. Everyone turned to watch the sky. A second later two dots of light appeared, both white. "Hmm... I think I know one of those energies..."  
  
As they watched the approaching forms another dot, this one not glowing, appeared just above the water. "More company." Brolly said nodding toward them. There were five people in all, two in the air and three just above the water. It was obvious the two in the air were rather strong but the other three weren't to powerful.  
  
Tien and Hiro landed on the edge of the island in a flash of light. "Hello Master Roshi." Tien said nodding.  
  
"Tien. It's been a long time."  
  
"To long Master." He looked at Krillin, Brolly, and Goku. "These your new students."  
  
Goku nodded. "Just started training with him recently. Used to train with my Grandpa."  
  
Just then an air boat roared up to the beach and set down on the islands edge a few feet from the gathered warriors. They watched as the door swung open and the three occupants stepped out. "Bulma? Chi-Chi?" Brolly asked. "What are you guys doing out here?"  
  
Yamcha snorted. "Searching for mythological balls."   
  
Bulma jammed her elbow into his gut. "You should watch your manners, I figured you of all people would know who he is." Bulma said pointing at Master Roshi. She only knew him because her father had gone to school with him but she wasn't about to tell him that.  
  
"He just looks like an old man to me." Yamcha snorted.  
  
"Hey!" Roshi shouted.  
  
Bulma just snickered. "That's Master Roshi." Yamcha's jaw just about hit the floor and Bulma couldn't help but laugh. When she finally stopped she looked over at Brolly and smiled. "So this is where you learned to fight eh? Explains where your such a good fighter."  
  
Roshi cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Excuse me miss, but why are you on my Island?"  
  
"Simple, there's a Dragonball here."  
  
Tien looked at her in disbelief. "A Dragonball? Here? How do you know? How do you even know about the Dragonballs?"  
  
Bulma quickly explained about her mythology report, showed them the Dragon radar, and then the one star Dragonball. "Hey Goku..." Krillin started. "That looks like your Grandpa's ball..."  
  
"Hey, you're right." Goku reached into a small pouch he'd set down a few yards away and pulled out the four star ball.  
  
"Oh, that's it!" Bulma cried. "That's the four star Dragonball!" Bulma walked over eyeing the ball and slowly reached out to grab it. Just as she was about to take it Goku moved his arm and she fell face first onto the ground. "Hey! What did you do that for!" she cried getting up and brushing off her clothes.  
  
"You tried to take my Grandpa's ball!" he said as though it were obvious.  
  
Bulma was at a loss for words as she stared at the Dragonball. "But..." her mouth continued to move but no sounds came out. She didn't really need all seven of the Dragonballs, only the one she had, but... maybe she could make a wish if she got them all? But... then what would she wish for? She could figure that out later, but later wouldn't come without all the Dragonballs. Having finally regained her ability of speech she was about to ask for Goku's Dragonball when someone threw her down on the ground.  
  
She turned around intending to complain but froze at the sight of a small group of strange green... things... floating in the air. Then she heard strange laughing behind her and turned to see another small group of the things. "Ick! What are these things!?" she cried sliding away from them.  
  
"Saibamen? Out here?" Tien said looking around.  
  
"Looks like an ambush." replied Hiro. "They may have trailed us."  
  
"What are Saibamen?" Krillin asked glancing between the two groups.  
  
"Demons." Replied Master Roshi.  
  
Bulma's eyes went wide. "What!!!!"  
  
"Come on, let's get rid of them." Brolly said sliding into a fighting stance. The others all nodded in agreement.  
  
"Be careful." Tien said over his shoulder. "These things are small but some can be fairly strong."  
  
As the Saibamen lunged in Tien, Hiro, Yamcha, Krillin, Goku, Brolly, and Master Roshi lunged at them as well. It was two Saibamen to each of them. Only Tien and Master Roshi seemed to have no trouble dealing with there two while everyone else was having trouble keeping up. Yamcha grunted as four green fists slammed into his stomach. Gasping for air he doubled over and slumped to the ground.  
  
As Tien finished off both of his Saibamen with a single Dodon Ray Bulma screamed. Turning to look he saw one of the Saibamen standing near her. As he was about to attack the demon it launched into the air, a glistening sphere in each hand. /Shit! It stole the Dragonballs!/ "Dodon Ray!" He fired the blast at the retreating demon but two others jumped into the beam's path stopping it but dying in the process.  
  
"Not good." Tien said as the last of the Saibamen disintegrated. "One of them stole the Dragonballs."  
  
Recovering his breath Yamcha stood back up. "So?" he asked rubbing his stomach. "What could they do?"  
  
Tien sighed. "Saibamen can't talk, so even if they get all seven balls they'll need someone else to summon the Dragon. After that..."  
  
"Any wish." Bulma mumbled softly. "They can make a wish. But what would they wish for?"  
  
Hiro swore as he stared after the missing demon. "There's only two things those demons want. To rule the world and to bring back there king. The Dragon can't give them the first but it can give them the second."  
  
"Resurrection of Majin Buu." Tien said shaking his head. "First the barrier begins to weaken and now this." He turned to Bulma. "We need your radar, we've got to track down the Dragonballs before the Demons get them all. If we don't...." 


	5. The History of Buu

A/N: My AU, my history. :) So, expect things to be different of course, just a warning :)  
  
Chapter five - The History of Buu  
  
Goku and his friends had been running themselves ragged over the last two weeks tracking down Dragonballs. They'd manage to get them from the Saibamen only to have them stolen again a day later. Rinse, lather, repeat... you know the drill. At the moment they held five in their possession. Bulma had suggested collecting them all and hiding them but Tien believed that was to dangerous, and the others all agreed. Even if they hid them in different places there was the chance they could be followed. No, that wasn't the way to go... but what was? That's what found them currently gathered in Master Roshi's living room.  
  
"Well, there's what, more than five of us." Yamcha said stating the obvious. "So why not have one person guard a single ball?"  
  
Tien nodded. "That just might work. So now all we need to settle is who guards which ball?"  
  
Goku held up the four star ball letting the sunlight glisten off the ball. "I'll keep hold of the four star ball... I got it from my grandpa."  
  
Tien bent down and picked up the one star ball and tossed it to Roshi. "You keep this one." Then he tossed the three star over to Krillin, the five star went to Hiro, and the six star ball Tien slipped into his pocket. "That settles that."  
  
"If you ask me this is still a little much to take in." Brolly said leaning back in his chair. "Demons, magic balls, dragons, I mean... it's a lot to accept." He sighed. "But I've seen them... Ugh, I hope I'm not going insane."  
  
"You're not the only one." Bulma said leaning forward. "Tien, could you explain this more? I mean... you haven't really told us much yet."  
  
"I don't really know where to begin." he said sighing.  
  
"Well, the beginning would be a good place to start." Bulma said smirking.  
  
Tien nodded. "Well... it was about fifty million years ago that a demon named Buu was first born. Buu was a powerful demon indeed, even back then, but nothing compared to the Demon who currently ruled the Demon Realm, Dabura. Though powerful Dabura didn't have the strength to stand up to the Kai's and so, though he despised them, he didn't dare give them reason to attack him. As Buu grew stronger Dabura took notice of this demon, a demon like no other.  
  
"You see, Buu was one of a kind. He was as evil as evil gets, a demon not born of natural means but created, forged by a powerful demon wizard to be his tool in conquest of all worlds, Demon, mortal, and Kai alike. Buu is the essence of evil, a collection of all the evil that existed in all demons and mortals of that time. Dabura didn't like rebels, especially ones as weak as Bibidi so he killed the short demon.  
  
"But then he was faced with a new problem, what to do with Buu. You see, Buu had become far more powerful than many demons and was gaining on Dabura. The demon king didn't like this and tried to kill Buu. However... it didn't go as planned and the creature simply reformed itself from seemingly nothing. And then it did something that tipped the balance of power in the universe, it absorbed Dabura and became far stronger than the Kai's. All of this took a million years."  
  
Tien left out another sigh as he stood. They watched after him as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of soda. After drinking almost half of it he looked over at the handful of people with him. He wasn't sure how much time they all had left before... no, it was best not to think that way. Shaking his head he rejoined them and took continued his story.  
  
"This new being preferred to be called Bura. He was a powerful being, to powerful for the Kai's to simply ignore. The Supreme Kai's of the time, all twelve of them, launched an assault on the Demon World. Those who challenged them died quickly but most simply ran away in fear. Except Bura. He walked from his palace and straight into their midst daring them to attack.  
  
"Seeing him the Kai's attacked him with all their might. It seemed at first as though they would win, but then one of them got to close and was absorbed. The power boost was to much for the remaining Kai's to battle and they began to fall. Still the battle raged on for days. After a week of constant fighting only four Kai's still stood, the rest dead or absorbed. These four did the only thing they could do, they each removed one earring and four became two. These two Kai's were much stronger than the four had been but still no match for Buu. However they had a last hope, a final chance to stop Bura."  
  
******  
  
"Sheba!" a voice called from the sky. A red stream of light surged down to the ground and exploded  
  
away revealing a short man with red-orange skin and long dark blue hair. His green eyes looked sadly upon the slim form of his last ally. She had a soft green skin, spiky purple hair, and yellow eyes. "Sheba, are you okay?"  
  
"Ahh..." she groaned slowly pulling herself up with the others help. "Tapion..." she whispered.  
  
"Yes... can you stand?"  
  
As he helped his fellow Kai to her feet the hulking form of Bura that floated above the smirked down. These Kai's were nothing compared to him! How dare they attack him! This was his world, his palace! They spoke of preventing him from destroying the mortal world, what nonsense! What reason would he have to attack the mortal world! There was nothing there of value, all that you could find where these Kai's precious mortals! Bah! He had no use for them! He was quite content with ruling the demon world. Yet here they were, invading his land, invading his palace! And why! For the precious mortals he'd had no intention of attacking! Well fine! If that's they way they wanted it then that's they way they'd have it, he'd kill them and then destroy the mortal world and every last one of those disgusting mortals!  
  
"What do we do?" Sheba asked. "We can't win... he's to strong!"  
  
"There is a way." Tapion replied. "One last technique that could work... but it'll cost us our lives."   
  
She looked at him and realized what he meant. Only one thing could stop something this powerful but it would take them both to do it. "The Evil Containment Wave." she said at last. Tapion nodded. "Alright, let's do it. Bura has to be stopped!"  
  
The two floated into the air and stared across at Bura. "It ends here and now demon!" Tapion cried. Bura laughed as the two Kai's began to prepare some kind of attack. He didn't care, he'd give them this one last chance and then it would end for real, he'd kill them!  
  
"Evil Containment Wave!" they cried in unison.  
  
******  
  
"They trapped him with that attack. Locked him inside a place called the Dead Zone. However Buu left behind a small piece of himself, a tiny fragment of his being. This small pink blob, about the size of a marble, had nearly no energy and couldn't even move. But it didn't have to. The blob simply sat there for ten million years doing absolutely nothing. No demons even dared set foot near Buu's former palace, they were to afraid. But after that much time even fear erodes, and those who remember the past, the glory of the demon empire, call for a new order. It was Bobidi who promised this new order. He promised the demons a new king, one who could stand up to the new Supreme Kai's.  
  
"He had ventured where no other had gone. The grandson of Bibidi walked on the hallowed ground of Buu's former palace and found that last remaining element of the once powerful demon. He gathered all his magical strength and power and forged an incubator for this blob. A massive egg that would breath life into lifeless remains and in essence create a new Buu, the son of Buu. It took many millennia for Buu to grow stronger within that egg and many demons forgot. Of those who remembered many no longer believed a rebirth was possible.  
  
"Then, a five million years ago, the entire demon world began to rumble and shake. None knew what the cause was but the wizard Bibidi stepped forward and declared it was at last time, that Buu was about to be reborn anew! They gathered about the egg to witness this birth. The current King of Demons, a being named Bojack, scoffed at this. He was to young to remember Buu and believed he was the most powerful demon period. But when the egg cracked pink smoke came forth and formed into a short pink creature, the new Buu, Majin Buu. This child looking demon stood glaring daggers at the demons before him, he remembered them all since he had his father's memories. Bojack stepped forward with a large smirk..."  
  
******  
  
"You are to be our new king?!" Bojack laughed. "You are nothing! I could crush you between my thumbs! I am the king of demons now and forever."  
  
Majin Buu's head tilted sideways and he grinned. Thousands of demons cringed and stepped back in fear. Pure evil radiated from his almost pure black eyes. The red pupils locked on Bojack's large green body. Slowly it lifted a small arm and pointed a tiny hand at the demon before it. More demons cringed as it's shrieking laughter filled the skies. Bojack began to bulge, his eyes literally popped out of his head, his veins exploded blood everywhere. His body began to crumple and then suddenly exploded into millions of pieces. Majin Buu simply tilted its head the other way and continued to laugh.  
  
******  
  
"After that no one dared to challenge him and as he grew older his intelligence and power grew more than his body. Still, by the time the demon wars started twenty five thousand years ago he was over seven foot tall." he sighed again remembering what he'd learned of the demon wars. "Majin Buu had never planed to attack the mortal world but... he heard whispers of things, legends really, that told of unlimited power. He was beginning to worry about his own foot hold as King of Demons because their were once again Supreme Kai's and they were nearing his power.  
  
"He sought a way to make himself stronger, to prevent these new Kai's from doing what the last had done to his father. He sent hordes of Demons into our world to seek out a means to reach this goal. The demons reeked havoc across the universe in search of anything to help their King. This drew the attention of the Kai's who began to kill the demons for invading the mortal world. From there things just got worse. Eventually Majin Buu himself attacked the Kai's and their new allies, the Sai-jins.  
  
"It was a fierce battle and only the current Supreme Kai and Grand Kai know the exact details. All I know for certain is that one of those Sai-jins, one of the last two full blooded Sai-jins, killed Majin Buu. Since then a demon named Frieza has ruled as king. As for the Sai-jins... well, according to what's written they had families with humans and it's possible that somewhere there are still Sai-jins, hidden away with a mortal body waiting for a reason to return. I don't know about that part but... it would be nice to have such powerful allies." 


	6. Demonic Evolution

Chapter Six - Demonic Evolution  
  
Goku back flipped over the blue stream of energy that Yamcha had just sent his way. As his feet planet themselves firmly in the ground again he swung out his right fist and slammed it into the other's jaw knocking him back. Yamcha hit the ground hard but managed to get up quickly. He aimed a kick at Goku's head but the spiky haired teen threw his arms up and blocked the kick.  
  
Brolly and Krillin watched the spar with interest. Yamcha had come along pretty well over the past month, which was good since the tournament was only two and a half months off now. The other good news was that none of them had seen a single Saibaman since they're meeting a month ago. Still, they didn't envy him right now. Especially after a hard left hook slammed into Yamcha's stomach.  
  
"Oh, that's enough for me." Yamcha said holding his stomach. Goku just stood there grinning. They'd trained on Roshi's island for a few days but had returned to the city and were using the backyard of his small house there.  
  
"Hey guys!" Chi-Chi called walking out of Roshi's house with a try of food.  
  
"Bulma didn't cook that, did she?" Krillin asked tentatively.  
  
Chi-Chi shook her head. "No, I did. And they're pretty good if I do say so myself."  
  
"Ah, Thanks Chi." they said in unison, each taking a sandwich from the tray.  
  
"Um... guys!" Bulma's voice came from inside the house. "I think you should see this!" Everyone went inside and Bulma pointed at the TV news.  
  
******  
  
Vegeta glared daggers at each of the little green freaks around him. He despised all demons but these things he loathed with every fiber of his being. A group of strong Saibamen had killed his father, the only surviving one from that battle had killed his sister. If he did nothing else with his life the only thing that would matter was seeing every last one of the foul things dead. /Thirty-nine, forty, forty-one.../ he continued to count them as he watched for any of them to attack.  
  
He'd never seen so many in one place before, something was definitely up and he doubted it had anything to do with the people they'd been scaring before he'd arrived. Counting the last of them, sixty-two in all, he spotted a news truck pull up a few blocks away. He ignored their presence, as he'd been ignoring the police's calls for him to take cover.  
  
Glimpsing a few to his right shifting he called up his energy in a brilliant flare of purple thrust his arms out sending a shockwave in all directions. The Saibamen were knocked off balance for a second and Vegeta lunged into the closest group. His first punch went straight through the chest of his target but his second intended victim dodged nimbly around his attempted blow.  
  
Suddenly he felt several hands and feet slam into him in various places as the other Saibamen launched into the offensive. Vegeta spun quickly backhand several of the little green demons and knocking them away. He lifted into the air and aimed his arms down firing off a rapid volley of purple KI blasts. Several Saibamen fell to the ground dead with holes through their bodies. Unfortunately it wasn't enough.  
  
The Saibamen launched up at Vegeta yet again with more ferocity than before. Two pulled up beside him and tried to kick him in the face. While he was distracted by them another rammed into his stomach head first at full speed. Vegeta was knocked several hundred feet into the air as his eyes bulged out from the blow. /That hurt! Damn it, that one's a strong one./ He looked around for any sign of which one had hit him but he couldn't tell. A sudden green glow danced across the back of his arms and he turned to look above him. At least ten Saibamen were firing rapid energy blasts down at him. Quickly he brought his arms up to block. As the blasts drove him down into the ground he cursed at himself for being caught off guard like that.  
  
******  
  
"We have to go help him." Goku said watching the fight. "He's good but he can't take that many alone."  
  
"Right, he's only a few minutes away." Brolly said walking from the room.   
  
Yamcha and Krillin followed the other two out and as they were about to take off Roshi came up. "Hold it a second. I don't know if this is a good idea. What about your Dragonballs? If you all go then they'll be able to get them easier." He glanced from Krillin to Goku. "One of you should stay back."  
  
Yamcha frowned... "Goku, give me your ball. I'll stay behind. The rest of you go." Goku looked at him for a moment before handing over his ball.  
  
Roshi watched his three pupils speed off into the city toward the battle and wished he could go help. But he was right, letting one ball within reach of the Demons was bad enough, but if he went that would give them to within reach.  
  
******  
  
Vegeta had managed to erect a KI barrier shortly after hitting the road and was able to hold off the incoming blasts for now but it was beginning to buckle. As his frustration built he began to charge energy in his palms. Maybe he'd get lucky and kill them with a quick enough blast. However he didn't need to fire it. He heard a voice call out "Dodon Ray!" and then, suddenly, the attacks ended.  
  
As the glare from the energy faded Vegeta caught sight of a bald man fighting with the Saibamen in the sky above him. /What the hell?/ he wondered as four Saibamen fell from the sky as a single energy beam tore through them all. /Who the hell is this guy?/  
  
"You going to take a nap or get up here and help me?" he called down.  
  
Vegeta growled and launched into he air dodging an energy blast on the way. He lashed out with his right fist and the attack tore off the head of the Saibamen he hit. Spinning he landed a hard kick to another's head but it just floated there laughing. /This one must be the leader of the group, it seems to be the strongest./ He began to swing his fists madly but the Demon kept dodging him with ease. "Damn you, hold still so I can vaporize you!" he cried. The Demon's red eyes flashed suddenly and Vegeta was launched backward yet again. He was beginning to get annoyed at that.   
  
Just as he went to attack again a new voice called out. "Tien!" Vegeta turned and saw one person he recognized, Brolly, and two he didn't. He figured Tien must be the bald man who'd arrived earlier. The distraction ended up costing him a kick to the chest that cracked a rib. "Ahhh! Damn you!" he shouted grasping at the injury.  
  
Suddenly a fist came from no where and slammed into the Demon sending it crashing into the ground. Before Vegeta could say anything Tien's voice called out. "Everyone, move aside!" The prince looked up to see Tien floating up higher into the air, his arms in front of him, hands cupped like a triangle. Something told him to do as the man side and he quickly slid to the side. "Tri-Beam!" Tien cried firing a large golden beam down at the group of Saibamen. The blast drove them into the ground and caused an explosion that shattered nearby windows. As the smoke cleared it revealed a small crater about three feet deep filled with bits and pieces of the Demons which began to disintegrate almost instantly. /That's some power.../ Vegeta thought looking up at the Tri-clops.  
  
"Hey Vegeta!" Goku called down with a wave as he approached. "I'm Goku..." he stopped as a shrill shriek echoed through the air. Everyone looked down as rocks shifted in the crater and a single, very pissed, Saibaman. It stared up at the small group panting for a moment. Then another shriek erupted from its throat as it threw its arms back and its green aura exploded out about it. The green armor on its chest began to crack as the muscles in its arms and legs began to bulge.  
  
"What the hell?!" Vegeta cried. He'd never seen this before.  
  
"Damn!" Tien yelled readying for battle. "It's ascending!"  
  
"Ascending?" Krillin asked with a bit of fear in his voice.  
  
"All Demons have the power to evolve into stronger Demons. This one's evolving..."  
  
Goku looked over to him. "Any idea what it's evolving into?"  
  
Tien nodded solemnly. "A Bakor. Saibamen are fairly weak Demons in the big picture but they have the most powerful evolutionary path."  
  
"Oh, that's just perfect!" Vegeta shouted.  
  
Below them the previously three and a half foot tall Saibaman was now five foot tall. It was now a very light blue color and had a tail as well as two very small horns poking out of its head. The previously exposed brain was now covered by an orange plate. They could all feel the increased power of the Demon. It was nothing radical, nothing a Human couldn't attain. Hell, there were probably a few Humans out there that could have torn the thing to shreds without trying. Unfortunately, none of them were present.  
  
The Saibaman, or rather, Bakor, smirked. "Now this is nice." it said in a somewhat female sounding yet raspy voice.  
  
"Oh yeah," Tien began. "I forgot to mention that they get smarter too." /I also didn't tell you that the current King of Demons, Frieza, is evolved from these things./  
  
Brolly and Goku glanced at each other before grinning. They turned down toward the Demon and in a flash of blue the two surged head on at it. The Bakor just stood there grinning at them as they neared. At the last second it swung at them but its fists passed through nothing but thin air. As the images vanished its face met with Tien's knee. 


	7. The Mysterious Warriors

Chapter Seven - The Mysterious Warriors  
  
Vegeta watched as Tien fought the Bakor. Both were going at it fiercely but Tien was slowly losing any edge he may have had. The Demon was simply to much for the Human to handle alone and the attempted aid from the others yielded nothing. Tien back flipped away from the Demon just in time to dodge a vicious kick. "Dodon Ray!" he cried. The Demon dodged to the side and the blast merely grazed it's shoulder doing little but irritating it.  
  
"You Humans are annoying!" it cried lunging in at Tien and slamming it's fist into his face. "I'll enjoy shredding your flesh from your bones!"  
  
Krillin took a step back as he watched the Bakor take the offensive against Tien. "Oh man, I hope this works..." he said softly raising a hand above his head. Energy began to arc up and down his arm collecting around his open palm in a disc. It took several seconds to form the large disk around his hand, then he moved it over his hand and closed the opening in it's center. "Alright, here goes! Destructo Disk!" he called pitching the buzz saw like attack.  
  
The Bakor turned and spied the attack. It leapt into the air to dodge it but Krillin turned it upward. Unfortunately it didn't go high enough to do any real damage to the Demon but it did sever half its tail. "Yes!" Goku cried from above. "This thing is beatable! Krillin, Brolly, joint Kamehameha!" he called while the Demon was still distracted by its damaged tail.  
  
The two nodded as Goku landed beside Krillin. Brolly took the other side and all three took the stance. Goku glanced up as he felt another power near them, it was Tien. "Wait. I've got a better idea, we'll surround it. Krillin, stay here, Goku to the right, Brolly on the left, I'll take the rear." He looked over to Vegeta. "You don't know this attack but do you have something to hit him with from above?" Vegeta nodded and floated above the Demon while the others took their places as well.  
  
A second later four blue glows bathed the city street from ground level while a fifth glow, this one purple, exploded to life in the sky. Between their cupped hands the four Earth bound warriors charged their strongest Kamehameha concentrating the energy as much as they could. Above them Vegeta was engulfed in a brilliant purple aura as he gathered all his energy together to launch his strongest attack.  
  
"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Krillin and the others called. The Bakor finally looked down from his tail at the charging attacks and it eyes widened a bit. Then it noticed the purple glow and looked up. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The four blue streams of energy surged up at the Demon.  
  
"Alright, time to die Demon!" Vegeta yelled down. "Gallic Gun!" He thrust his arms and legs out at the Demon and the massive wave of energy surged downward from his body toward the Demon. The creature looked around frantically for an escape route but no matter which way it would go at least three of the attacks would still hit. Quickly it pulled itself into a ball as the attacks met where it floated and exploded in a brilliant flash that sent shockwaves down the streets cracking the roads, shattering windows, and cracking the walls of the buildings.  
  
The five warriors ended their attacks and stared up at the spot where the Bakor had been floating waiting for the smoke to clear. "We did it!" Krillin cheered.  
  
"Don't be so sure." Brolly said cautiously. "That thing was pretty strong."  
  
"Aw, there's no way it.... sur... vived..." His eyes opened wide. "But how!" he cried seeing the curled up Demon floating in the sky. There was a shimmer of orange around it in a sphere that revealed the KI barrier around it. "There's no way it stopped that attack!"  
  
"Damn! What's it take to kill this thing!" Vegeta called down from above.  
  
There was a deep rasping laugh from the top of a near-by building. "Obviously more than you've got." said the grating voice the laugh belonged to. They all turned and saw another Bakor lift off the roof and descend to where the other was unfolding itself. "I sensed your ascension and came as quickly as I could. Figured anything that could trigger that was worth my presence. I wasn't totally disappointed." The other Bakor looked at him quizzically wondering what the new arrival was talking about. "You know he's Tien, correct?"  
  
The first Bakor nodded. "Yes, it's why we were here. My fellow Saibamen that is. We hoped to draw him out and get the Dragonballs. The others were killed though." it said with anger.  
  
"Understandable." the new one said looking up. "I expected more from you Vegeta!" he called. "Aren't you supposed to be descended of the best?" Vegeta clenched his fist and growled. "Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Titan." he said with a flashy bow. Then he looked over to the other Bakor. "You need a name... How about Deimos?"  
  
"Deimos? I like it."  
  
"Are you finished!" Vegeta yelled down. "We were in the middle of a fight!"  
  
Titan shook his head. "So impatient to die. So now, which of you has the Dragonballs?"  
  
Deimos looked down to the ground. "That one has one of them." he said pointing. "But that's all they've got with them."  
  
Titan nodded. "That's good enough. Come on, we'll take them together!" Titan cried charging down toward Krillin. Deimos followed quickly after him.  
  
Krillin stepped backward in fear. "Help!" he cried. Goku, Tien and Brolly charged up at the two Bakors but they slipped quickly around the three. Titan reached Krillin first and slammed a fist into his chest. While attacking him he also grasped hold of the Dragonball the short man had on him. Deimos pulled up next to Titan and stopped. He shoved his arms forward and fired a stream of black energy Krillin. However it slammed into something else and exploded before reaching him.  
  
When the glare and smoke died they saw Krillin's savior. Well, sort of. Whoever the person was they were wearing a dark purple hooded cloak. They couldn't make out any features until the person spoke in a soft female voice that still carried a sharp edge. "You should have stayed in your own dimension." she said walking forward slowly. Deimos took a step back but Titan didn't flinch.  
  
"You think the mysterious act affects me? Ha! You'll have to do better than that!"  
  
There was a deep throated grunt from behind the Demons and they turned to look. There stood another person in a dark purple hooded cloak. Just behind him was a much shorter person in an identical cloak with a sword strapped over his back. The taller one spoke in a deep and menacing voice, "She could always just destroy you." Then the man started walking toward the two Bakors while the other walked off to the side.  
  
"Deimos, you take the girl, I'll handle this one." Titan ordered.  
  
Deimos charged in at the cloaked woman who dodged around him effortlessly. There was a sudden flash of red from within the dark recesses of the hood and Deimos was pitched backward. The woman raised her right arm and pointed a single hidden finger at the fallen Bakor. There was a spark of deep blue on her finger and then a golf ball sized stream of energy tore through the air and through Deimos's head.  
  
Titan didn't see this as he continued to swing at the cloaked man who dodged from side to side without even rustling his cloak. With a loud growl it lunged at the man in an attempt tear him apart. The man raised an arm and a stream of orange energy tore from his open sleeve engulfing the Demon completely and turning it to dust. "Good riddance." he growled.  
  
"Wh... what the hell! How... did they do that!" Vegeta cried in shock.  
  
The two cloaked forms turned to face the group of warriors. Krillin gulped but the others stood their ground. Suddenly the man tossed the Dragonball toward Krillin. "You should keep better hold of that thing." he said turning around. Slowly he lifted into the air and then sped off into the distance, the one on the sidelines following suit.  
  
"Wait... who are you guys?" Goku asked as the woman lifted into the air as well.  
  
"Later." she said turning. "First return to Roshi's. Ask him the location of Korin tower, you will find us above it." Then she too sped into the distance.  
  
"Well... I guess we go back to Master Roshi's." Brolly said floating up into the air. "Tien, you coming?" The tri-clops nodded.   
  
Vegeta floated over to where Brolly was. "I don't know what's going on but I'm coming with you." he said. The edge to his voice said the matter wasn't debatable but nobody really cared. And so, with over a hundred eyes following them, they took off for Master Roshi's.  
  
A/N: Yes, I know it's short. I've got a case of writers block... and I want to keep you guessing about the warriors :p Though, one of them is original... 


	8. Cats, Kais, Demons, and Time Travelers

A/N: I think many of you will enjoy parts of this. :) My personal favorite part is when they first get to the top of Korins Tower and the events leading to Vegeta taking the 'test'. XD Oh, and feel free to make guesses as to 'Saiya's' identity! Leave a review please!  
  
Chapter Eight - Cats, Kais, Demons, and Time Travelers  
  
The small collection of warriors descended to the street outside Roshi's house to find the old man and Yamcha waiting for them. "We saw what happened on TV." Roshi said softly, his sunglasses gleaming in the light. "I assume they offered to meet you somewhere?"  
  
"Yeah." Goku said scratching the back of his head. "How'd you know that? They told us to ask you where Korin's tower is."  
  
"I know two of those people. I don't know who the short one was though." Roshi sighed deeply. "And so the torch is passed to the next generation." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. "Here, follow the indicator on this, it will lead you to Korin's tower. Fly to the top and talk to Korin, he'll give you some advice and tell you where to go from there."  
  
Tien took the device giving Roshi an odd look. /I wonder if they're the ones he talked about years ago.../ he thought as he glanced at the device in his hand. "Come on Yamcha, you're coming with us." Tien ordered as he turned about. Yamcha nodded and they all took off. Tien in the lead followed by Vegeta, Goku, Brolly, Krillin, and Yamcha at the back.  
  
It took them almost two hours before Goku even spied anything that looked like a tower. They were in the middle of nowhere, the forest was thick below them, and a large white structure reached up into the clouds. "Wow... I guess that's it! Amazing, how tall is it?" Goku wondered looking up.  
  
"What I want to know is how it's still standing... and why I've never heard of it before." Krillin said.  
  
Vegeta merely grunted and started flying higher before they even reached the tower. The others took this as a signal to do this same. Several moments later they broke through the cloud layers and spied the top of the tower. Floating into the large bubble they touched down gently, breathing heavily in the thin air.  
  
"Welcome." Came a voice from below them. They turned and saw a set of stairs leading down. A moment later a furry white cat emerged holding a staff.  
  
"Wait a minute, you're Korin?" Vegeta asked a bit miffed as he zipped up his jacket to cut the chill.  
  
"I am Master Korin to you young man." the cat replied hotly. "The current generation... no manners."  
  
"B... but you're a cat!" Yamcha cried.  
  
Korin turned his small black eyes toward him. "Your point?" he asked arching an eyebrow. "If you don't like that you can always head back down." Yamcha shut up at that point. "Good. I know talking cats aren't the normal on this planet. Of course, I'm not from around here." he grinned. "I'm from a bit higher up than that."  
  
"You mean... you're a Kai?" Tien asked curiously.  
  
Korin chuckled. "Not quite my friend. No, I'm merely a mid-way point between here and the next level. You must get past me to see this planet's guardian. Whether you ever meet any Kai's or not is up to him."  
  
"Get past you?" Vegeta asked smugly. "You mean we have to fight a cat to go on?" he laughed at his and shook his head.  
  
Korin turned to glare at Vegeta and his eyes sparked. Suddenly the arrogant teen was pitched backward violently and knocked free of the tower completely. It took him a moment to regain his composure and land again, looking none to happy as he did. "Why you! That was a lucky... no, that was a cheap shot!" he roared.  
  
Korin grinned, his teeth gleaming in the sun. "Alright then, you're first." he said turning. "Hit me with your best punch. If I'm knocked backward, even a little, you can move on. Otherwise you'll only be wasting Kami's time and will remain here to train until you can move me."  
  
"Gladly." Vegeta snorted slipping into combat position. He glared down at Korin but the cat didn't bother to even blink. "That's it!" he cried charging across the open space. He cocked back his fist and swung with all his might slamming it square into Korin's face. The cat didn't budge. "W-what!" Vegeta cried in shock taking a few steps back.  
  
"Hey, can I go next?" Goku asked working out the kinks in his right arm.  
  
"Sure, go ahead." Korin said turning toward him. Vegeta looked toward him frowning.  
  
Goku stretched a moment before getting ready. "Alright, here I go!" he cried launching forward. He swung his fist with all his force and smashed it into Korin's face. The cat slid backward only a foot and then stopped. Goku was grinning madly and pumping his fist in the air.  
  
"Well done Goku, well done." Korin said. "I see your training with Master Roshi is paying off... thank-fully his habits haven't rubbed off on you yet."  
  
"You know Master Roshi?" Goku asked surprised.  
  
Korin chuckled again. "Of course I know him. He spent a month here training in order to get up to Kami. I know him quite well, to well if you ask me."   
  
Krillin laughed as he cracked his shoulders. "Alright, my turn!" he declared. Korin turned his way and waited. The short teen waited a moment before launching in as well. His fist connected with a loud crack and Korin moved only an inch. However, it was enough. "Yes! I did it!" he cheered.  
  
"Indeed." Korin said nodding at him. "That was impressive, I'd not expected you to be able to move me. Alright, who's up next?"  
  
"I'll go." Yamcha said walking forward. He waited a moment, full distance across the room, and then grinned. "Here we go, my strongest punch! Wolf Fang Fist!" He launched in at Korin as fast as he could, swung his fist as hard as he could, hit Korin with his full force... and failed to move him. "Aw man..." he said slumping his shoulders.  
  
Brolly stepped forward. "My turn." He waited a moment as he gauged Korin's abilities. And then he attacked. His fist smacked into Korin's face and knocked the cat back a few inches. Farther than Krillin had but no quite as far as Goku had. Vegeta glared at them and crossed his arms. He didn't much like being put in the same 'league' as Yamcha.  
  
Tien stepped forward at last and Korin actually seemed to brace himself this time. Only Tien and Goku noticed this, the later grinning lightly as he watched Tien start his attack. The Triclopses fist smashed into Korin's face and the cat was launched backward, off of the tower. Korin pulled himself to a stop in the air and smiled as everyone stared at the grinning Tien in complete shock.  
  
Korin floated back over to them slowly and landed. "My word Tien, you've improved since the last time I watched you fight. Though it has been over ten years. Alright, you've all taken the test. Those who have passed need only to leave my tower and fly straight up. It will take a few moments but you'll see Kami's eventually." he turned toward Yamcha and Vegeta. "You two have some work to do before you go up."  
  
Tien and the others nodded and floated out of the tower. Vegeta watched them go up for a second before grunting and launching after them. Korin smirked as he watched him go. The others passed through a wispy gold cloud like area a moment before Vegeta reached it. Unlike them he slammed into it head first. "Ow! What the hell is that?"  
  
"That is Kami's barrier!" Korin called up to him. "Only those who've moved me can go beyond it." Vegeta looked down and glared at him again.  
  
******  
  
Tien, Krillin, Goku, and Brolly all landed on Kami's lookout and looked about. None of them were quite sure what they'd find as they looked about the palace like area. Across the way they saw the three cloaked figures standing outside a small building, standing half-way between the figures and the new arrivals was a short, pudgy, and pitch black man wearing a turban.  
  
The taller of the cloaked figures walked forward to stand beside the short man. He looked up at the taller form who seemed to nod. The short man walked forward and greeted the four warriors. "Welcome, my name is Mr. Popo, I am the keeper of the Shrine."  
  
"Hello." Tien said bowing. The others followed suit, all of them suddenly realizing it was easier to breathe here than it had been below. Tien glanced past him at the cloaked figure.  
  
"In a moment." Mr. Popo said seemingly reading his thoughts. "First, there is another test. This is merely to see your skill." Popo lifted into the air and drifted back to where the figure still stood. There he floated in place. "You must now hit me with a KI blast, you only have three shots each. Krillin shall go first, and then Brolly, Goku, and finally Tien."  
  
"Just a basic blast?" Krillin asked. Popo nodded. Taking a deep breath Krillin raised his arm and fired a small white KI ball... which dissipated into nothing after only a few feet. "What... what happened?"  
  
"It is harder to use KI here than down on the Earth." Popo explained. "Your skill and heart, among other things, will determine if the attack will work or fail, and how it will appear. Try again."  
  
Krillin nodded and focused harder this time. Again he fired a KI blast, this one a bit larger, much brighter, and it lasted longer before burning out. Krillin stiffened up a bit as he readied the next blast. The energy puffed out just as it left his hand this time. "Huh?"  
  
Popo shook his head. "You were to tense, and you're out of tries now. Okay Brolly, your turn."  
  
Brolly's first try was an very light blue that seemed to just fade into nothing after only a few feet. His second attempt was a golden orb that looked like a perfect circle and glowed brightly. It zipped across the open lookout and came very close to hitting Popo before suddenly vanishing. "Not quite." Popo said. "Once more." Brolly nodded and fired again. Another golden orb shot forth and this time it hit Popo's suddenly outstretched hand. "Very well done. Okay Goku, give it a try."  
  
Goku took a deep breath and raised his arm as well. Relaxing and focusing at the same time he fired his KI blast. It was a bright red color and shot forward with amazing speed. However, it stopped suddenly and exploded half-way across the distance. "Again." Popo ordered. Goku's next blast was even bigger looking, brighter, and faster. It slammed into Popo's outstretched arm in a blinding flash and vanished. "Impressive. You may be the one... Anyway, you've passed. Tien?"  
  
Tien raised his arm and, unlike the others, only used a single finger to charge his blast. He focused carefully and intently for over a minute before launching his attack. To the other three it seemed that a line of golden light suddenly appeared between Tien's finger and Popo's hand for a moment, before vanishing. "Amazing." Popo said looking across at Tien. "You've got complete mastery of you KI. That is an impressive feat."  
  
Popo turned and looked at the others behind him. "Krillin's KI skills need work. Brolly needs mental training. Tien is ready to see Kami. Goku... appears to be ready for the Room of Spirit and Time."  
  
The tall cloaked figure nodded. "Good." he said in a deep voice. "Kara, you can work with Krillin. I'll take Brolly through the mental training." The second tallest figure nodded as a new form emerged from the palace. He was an aged looking man with green skin and antenna. "Kami." the tall man said with a nod.  
  
"We have little time Piccolo, our young friend has warned us of this already." Kami said. "I want you all to begin your training right away."  
  
Piccolo reached a green hand up and removed the hood of his cloak revealing a face much like that of Kami's, only less wrinkled. With a nod across the way the other two followed suit. The female was revealed to have dark red skin, shimmering blue eyes, and wild dark purple hair.  
  
The shortest of the three also removed his hood to reveal a boy about ten years old. He had dark black eyes and pitch black hair. He also looked kind of familiar but the four of them weren't quite sure why. Piccolo looked at him, "Saiya, I want you to train with Mr. Popo for a while. Try and perfect that technique of yours while we work with the others." /And hopefully we'll be able to prevent the future you came back from.../  
  
The boy, apparently named Saiya, nodded. He lifted into the air and flew off to another spot where he began to train. The four warriors were a bit surprised that someone so young could manipulate their KI. Their attention was re-directed when Piccolo grunted. With that Tien went over to Kami, Krillin went over to Kara, and Piccolo told both Brolly and Goku to follow him.  
  
Piccolo led the two of them through several halls to a set of large doors where he stopped. "Goku, on the other side of these doors is what is known as the Room of Spirit and Time. It is a dimension outside of this one, a time beyond ours. In here you can live an entire year in a single day, without aging. The gravity is ten times that of Earth, the temperature fluctuates constantly, and you'll meet a man named King Kai.  
  
"King Kai is one of the lower Kais, he is directly above Kami. Normally he dosen't enter the Room of Spirit and Time but with the Demons threatening again he has agreed to help us. You will spend the next 24 hours training with him, a year shall pass to you." With that Piccolo opened the door and Goku went in.  
  
The large green man then led Brolly down the hall even further to small room with no windows. The two entered and Piccolo pulled the door shut, for a moment there was no light and then, suddenly, a small glowing ball of light appeared high above them. "And now, we begin your training." he said with a motion.  
  
******  
  
Krillin watched the others all disappear inside the palace leaving only him, Kara, Saiya, and Popo outside. Popo was helping Saiya to gain better control of his KI and train in general. The short human turned to the young woman before him and shook his head. "This is so weird..." Krillin said. "Fighting Demons, a talking cat, those other two were green, and you..."  
  
"Kami is from a race of peaceful Demons. That may seem odd but there are a few of such races, just as there are races of Kais that were geared more towards violence and war." Kara explained.  
  
"Like the Sai-jins?" Krillin asked, remembering Tien's story.  
  
Kara nodded. "Very much like them."  
  
"What about you?" he asked.  
  
"Me? I am a Kai. I'm not as high up on the scale as King Kai, whom Goku will train with, but Otherworld is where I was born. However, I've lived in this world since before Majin Buu, we Kais have eternal youth." she smiled. "You mortals, especially you Humans, intrigue me greatly." 


	9. The Training Begins

A/N: Luna's Meow: There's more to this than meets the eye..............  
  
Chapter Nine - The Training Begins  
  
Goku looked around him as he entered the Room of Spirit and Time. Behind him Piccolo shut the door leaving him alone. "Man, what a weird place." he said stepping out into the bright white portion of the dimension. "Hello, King Kai, are you here!" he called. Suddenly he was dropped to the ground and had to struggle to stand. After a few moments he managed to get to his knees but could go no farther and collapsed again. With some effort he rolled over onto his back and stared up into the nothing above him. "What... is... this..." he managed through ragged breaths, the pressure on him making it hard to breath.  
  
"This is 10G forces." said an odd voice. A moment later a short blue catfish like man was standing over him looking down at him. "Come on Goku, this shouldn't give you this much trouble, not with the KI control you've got."  
  
"What's... that... have..."  
  
King Kai shook his head. "Put up a barrier!"  
  
Goku grinned. "Why didn't I think of that!" Focusing his KI Goku formed a KI barrier around his body that reduced the pressure of the gravity pushing on him. "That should have been obvious." Goku said standing slowly, there was still about three G's pushing him down. "I mean, that's part of how you fly..."  
  
"We'll spend the first week or so getting used to the gravity in here... and then we'll begin the real work." King Kai informed him. He lifted into the air slowly. "Come on Goku, follow me as quickly as possible." With that he zipped into the distance. Blinking a few times Goku followed him as best he could.  
  
******  
  
Kara shook her head slowly. "You're using your muscles, don't." she said to Krillin.  
  
"But... then how am I supposed to..."  
  
"Let your KI flow through your body, don't force it, don't contain it." She turned and held out her arm letting her energy crackle about it. "See? Just tell the energy where to go and let it get there. Forcing your KI like that is going to reduce it's power and put a strain on your body."  
  
Krillin took a deep breath and held out his arm. He pointed it toward the rock Kara had found below Korin's tower and focused. He found it a lot harder to let the KI go it's own way than to channel it by himself, he kept getting the urge to push it along. After waiting a few moments to get used to the feel he began to charge a KI blast in his open palm. His eyes widened as the energy gathered far more quickly than it ever had before. He fired the blast and smashed a hole clear through the rock. "I don't believe it!" he cried looking at his own hand.  
  
Kara smiled. "People often forget that their KI is not some foreign thing that lives inside them but it is in fact them. When you want to move an arm you don't get a crane to move it with, you ask your arm to move." Krillin looked at her smiling. That made perfect sense to him. "Alright, we have a few more things to do, follow me." she ordered lifting off the ground and flying away from the tower. Krillin followed after her.  
  
******  
  
High up in the sky, in the room at the tower's top, Vegeta stood off on his own training. Korin frowned at him as he watched. /So then... you have survived the last twenty-five thousand years then? And the other one, Brolly. He made it too./ Korin crossed his arms, his gaze locked firmly on Vegeta.  
  
~You're worried about something old friend.~ Kami's voice echoed in his mind.  
  
~I don't trust this kid.~  
  
~Is that why you stopped him from actually hitting you during the test? So he couldn't move you?~  
  
Korin grumbled. Sometimes he hated how Kami knew practically everything. ~He is the descendant of the Betrayer.~ Korin could almost feel Kami's head shake. ~I know you forgive easy but he almost destroyed the universe... and this one's just as arrogant as him. I've seen the way he handles himself down on Earth.~  
  
~I understand how you feel Korin... but we have only two chances here. Either Brolly or Vegeta must re-awaken as Sai-jins or were will not survive the coming war.~  
  
~Saiya could...~  
  
~Yes, he could. And he's powerful too. But I don't think he can do it.~  
  
Korin sighed. "Damn you and your intelligence Kami." he said under his breath. "Still, I think I'll keep Vegeta here a bit longer anyway... he may be able to pass the Challenge, he's definitely got the spirit." The cat turned from Vegeta at last and watched Yamcha. The other teen was working as hard as Vegeta and Korin could feel it paying off with each motion Yamcha did. It would take a few weeks of training in the thin air to build up the power needed but he'd get there.  
  
******  
  
Tien looked around him at his new surroundings. Each time Kami sent him through the Dimensionalizer over the last hour he'd faced things beyond belief. This was the third time he'd gone through the shift and this time he found himself standing in a ruined city unlike any he'd ever seen. The buildings were all relatively small structures, those that still stood at least. The sky was an odd shade of red and Tien could here fighting in the distance. He lifted into the air and flew off to the sounds of battle.  
  
Touching down on top of one of the few buildings still standing he watched the fight before him. Six Bakors were attacking a single female warrior, who looked quite Human, and getting their butts kicked. As she drove her hand through the chest of one of them Tien caught a glimpse of a form floating down the street toward her. /What! Is he..../  
  
The Bakors backed off suddenly at the sight of the new arrival and the girl turned, he eyes widening in shock and fear. Floating there was a fairly short creature, small horns growing out the side of his head, purple skin, and a smug grin on his face. Tien knew who, and what, he was. Only three Bakors had even been known to evolve, Frieza, Cooler, and their father King Cold. This was Cold, in his first Changeling Form, before he evolved into his next state, the second Changeling Form as the Cold Family called it, the last one he was known to ever attain.  
  
Tien lifted off the building and floated down to where the girl was. "Mind if I lend a hand?" he asked.   
  
She glanced at him in surprise. "I'd thought everyone else was dead. Nice to see I was wrong. I'm Serena."  
  
"Name's Tien, I'm not exactly from around here."   
  
Serena merely nodded and returned her attention to Cold. "We will defeat you Demon!" she called to him. Cold laughed where he floated as two Bakors landed to either side of him.  
  
Tien's eyes narrowed. /Those two must be his sons... but then... that means!/ Tien braced himself for the coming battle. He knew nothing he did here would affect the time he'd been put into to, it was merely a replication of the past, and he felt sorry for the girl beside him. This battle was one he knew of quite well. During the course of the fight not only would Cold be the first to evolve yet again but Frieza would ascend to the First Changeling form as well.  
  
He and Serena launched in together and began to fight with the three of them. Tien couldn't tell which Bakor was Frieza and which Cooler by their looks but he could by their power. At this point in history, and through the course of it all, Frieza was the stronger. He was weaving around punches and kicks from both of them as Serena fought with Cold.  
  
The battle raged on for almost an hour before Cooler finally went down unconscious. Tien turned and smashed his fist into Frieza's face knocking him into his father. Quickly Tien launched into the sky and stopped above the two Demons. "Tri-beam!" he shouted. The beam surged down and smashed into Cold and Frieza.  
  
He floated in the air panting watching the dust clear. Serena floated up to join him. "That's some attack friend." she said looking at him.   
  
Tien nodded. "Yeah... but I'm pretty spent now..." he panted. Suddenly there was an explosion as Cold flew up at of the ground, his horns pointing almost straight up, and his body growing taller. "No! He's evolving!" /I'd hoped I'd killed him... I thought I was stronger than this!"  
  
A second later Cold's transformation was complete and he lunged up at Tien and Serena. Tien left out a gasp of pain as one of Cold's horns tore into his stomach. Next thing he knew he was collapsed on the floor gasping. He lifted himself up looking down at his body, there was no sign of the injury.  
  
"You did well Tien." Kami said.  
  
"But I would have died."  
  
"Yes, however you killed Frieza with that blast. Had you lived back then the universe would be a very different place."  
  
******  
  
Brolly sat with his eyes closed. Piccolo stood a few feet away guiding a ball of energy through the air. It was Brolly's task to follow the energy sphere without his eyes or ears. Every so often Piccolo would move it in and hit him, unless he managed to block it. So far he was 0 for 58.  
  
Piccolo guided the energy around behind Brolly and then brought it in for his head. Suddenly his head moved to the side in an attempt to dodge the sphere but he was to light and it smacked into him anyway. "Focus." Piccolo demanded. "Clear your mind and focus." Brolly nodded and Piccolo moved the energy about the room again. This time he drove it in toward Brolly's chest but the teen's arm reached up and swatted it away.  
  
Piccolo smiled and moved it around to quickly to come in at the side of his head. Brolly leaned back and it zipped past his face. Then he leaned forward as it came past again. Piccolo moved the energy orb faster and faster and Brolly continued to dodge for a few more moments before it finally hit him. "Not bad." Piccolo said as the energy dissipated. "Final record, 31 for 90." 


	10. The Challenge Begins

A/N: Hehe, see if you can pick up on the names of the people Vegeta encounters in this chapter... I'll give you only two hints. One they're not in English (except for their boss) but are all in one language. And two, they're not modified from the original. (So if you really want to know you can translate them directly to their original language, but I'm not saying what it is.) XD  
  
Note, this part has nothing to do with the actual story so if you're that anxious to get to it, I guess you can skip this. First, I'd like to suggest you go visit the site Daizex.com as it's a great DB fan-site. And, so long as you can follow the simple rules, join their MB (and my off-topic Daizex MB found in my Daizex sig.) Secondly, I'd like to advertise my new Blog found at www.xyex.blogspot.com as well. That is all, now on to the story!  
  
Chapter Ten - The Challenge Begins  
  
Korin watched the two warriors continue to train before him. He felt that Yamcha could get passed him now but he wanted to deal with Vegeta first. Before he did that he needed to figure out what he wanted to say to the teen. "Vegeta!" he called out at last drawing his attention. The wild haired teen stopped in mid kick and turned to face him as he lowered his leg. With his typical frown on his face he walked over to where the cat stood.  
  
"I take it you're finally going to let me try again?"  
  
Korin shook his head. It had been two weeks since he and Yamcha had remained behind while the others had gone on to the Lookout. Everyday for the first week Vegeta had demanded to be given another try. Since the seventh day, when Korin had had enough and sent him flying off the tower again, he'd calmed down a bit and hadn't said a word to the cat. Or Yamcha for that matter. "No. But I have something more worth your time I believe. It's known only as The Challenge."  
  
"And what exactly is this Challenge?"  
  
"Unexplainable."  
  
Vegeta snorted. "Figures."  
  
Korin smirked slightly. "Is that a no?"  
  
"Of course not! Anything's better than rotting away up here with that weakling!"  
  
/That did it. Thought it would. Alright then Vegeta, let's see if you can do this. If not, well, your death wont be that big of a loss I don't think./ Of course, Korin said none of this out loud. What he did say was, "Very will... Sai-jin Prince, follow me." Korin noted, with a widening smirk, the reaction on Vegeta's face to his statement. The shock and disbelief that Korin knew who he was. As he led the young man to the stairs and into the lower portions of the tower, parts not yet seen be either of the training fighters, he resumed talking. "What? Didn't think I'd know who you are Vegeta? I do work for Kami after all. I know all about you... and your ancestors."  
  
He gave Vegeta another glance after that statement. The teen didn't show any kind of reaction and Korin frowned. /Maybe he dosen't know? I wouldn't doubt his ancestors would have tried to wipe the event from memory to preserve their 'honor'. Well, no matter, if he dosen't know now he will soon enough. Even if it dosen't come to light during The Challenge it will during the coming war./  
  
At last they came to a stop near the center of the bottom room beside an intricate door built into the floor. "I also know that there is another Sai-jin who came with you." Korin said looking at Vegeta.  
  
"You're kidding? One of the others has a Sai-jin spirit?" he asked cocking an eyebrow in interest.  
  
"Indeed. The one called Brolly possesses the Sai-jin spirit as well. At the moment, he's the one I'm banking on here." Vegeta frowned at the cat but Korin just continued. "You're to cocky and arrogant. You may have a Sai-jin spirit and you may be descended of the Sai-jin King, but that King died twenty-five thousand years ago and your spirit is just that, only a spirit. Unless it awakens you are only a Human. No more, no less. Other than that hiding spirit nothing sets you apart from any other Human out there. Remember that."  
  
Korin slipped his wooden staff into a small hole in the door and it faded away. Vegeta peered down inside and saw nothing but blackness. "So what is this?"  
  
"The inside of the tower. This leads all the way down into... well... Hell."  
  
"You've got to be kidding."  
  
"I'm not. This tower is not just the path to the upper realms but the lower as well."  
  
"So what do I do when I get there?"  
  
Korin smirked again. "That's up to you. The Challenge is never the same twice. Everyone experiences something different. If you live through it a portal will appear above your head that will allow you to fly back out. If you don't... you'll be trapped within Hell for eternity."  
  
"Like that'll happen." Vegeta said walking up to the opening. "How long do I have to do this?"  
  
"As long as it takes." Vegeta moved to drop down the opening but Korin blocked him with his staff. "One last thing." he said holding out his paw. Vegeta held his hand out and the cat dropped three beans into it. "These are Senzu Beans, they will fully heal you of any injuries and fill you up for ten days. Use them only when absolutely needed."  
  
Closing his hand Vegeta smiled and jumped down the hole letting gravity pull him down instead of wasting his energy to do it himself. As the teen's hair finally vanished within the hole Korin shook his head. "Part of me wants you to make it out, part of me hopes you die down there." he said turning from the opening and returning to the top to find Yamcha still training.  
  
"Yamcha!" he called out.   
  
The teen turned to face him. "Yeah?"  
  
"It's time." Korin said simply. Yamcha smirked and slipped into a fighting stance. He waited a few moments before running forward and smashing his fist into Korin's face. The cat slipped back a couple inches and smirked up at him. "You have passed. You may proceed."  
  
"Alright! At last!" Yamcha cried running to the edge of the room. "Thanks for everything Master Korin!" he called back as he flew up toward the Lookout.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Vegeta slowed his descent as he saw the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel' below him. He'd noticed the trip down had been much longer than the trip up, the distance was at least three times that of the tower itself. He wasn't sure how that would be possible, it should reach almost to the core of the planet, if not further. He still wasn't convinced he was descending into Hell, that seemed fairly impossible to him. /Of course, I am a member of an ancient race that's now nothing but legends, and I was just talking with a _**Cat**_. I'm not sure what is impossible anymore./  
  
At last he emerged into the light and dropped the final few feet, the black hole above him shrinking away into nothing. The world around him was a wasteland. Barren and desolate landscape everywhere. Nothing but rocks, no grass or trees or anything. There was a low rumble in the distance and he turned to see a flash of lightning just before it vanished. The sky was filled with thick red clouds and as a new rumble of thunder reached him the putrid smell of sulfur burned into his nose.  
  
"Well now, this is unusual." Vegeta said as took one last look around. He stopped as another flash of lightning lit up the distant horizon and silhouetted a large structure sitting atop a small hill. "Now what do we have here?" he smirked floating into the air. "Only thing around so it's worth a shot." Deciding speed would be a good thing he pocketed the beans Korin had given him and focused his power. A moment later a purple aura flickered about him as he pushed more energy out of his body. In a flash he sped off toward the building.  
  
As he drew closer to the structure he began to realize several things about where he was. One, the distances were greater than they appeared. Two, everything looked the same. Three, there didn't seem to be anyone else around. And four, which was probably connected to the first one, this place wasn't round. That meant only one thing, he wasn't on any kind of planetary surface, there was no curve to the horizon no matter how high he moved, though he avoid touching the clouds, he didn't like the way they looked.  
  
/So does this place go on like this forever?/ he wondered. Just then another flash of lightning came from behind him and lit up the sky. Now he could see several forms moving about around the structure which appeared to be a large palace. /Sentries perhaps? So, do I just go barging in or see what's up first?/ Vegeta smirked as he poured on more speed.  
  
A few seconds later he noticed two of the figures lift into the air and float toward him a bit, finally noting his presence. It only took a few more moments to reach them. One was a tall man, over seven foot tall, with massive muscles, red skin, a green Mohawk, and blue eyes. The form beside him was much different. She was only about five foot with a slim body, had long flowing orange hair, soft blue skin, and silver eyes. "So you're the welcoming committee then?" Vegeta asked noting the Halo's floating above their heads.  
  
"Not exactly." the large man said in a very deep voice while grinning. "You are trespassing on Lord Garlic's domain. Leave at once or I'll..."  
  
"Easy big guy." the girl suddenly said with a smirk, her voice soft and smooth. She'd raised a hand as she spoke but now lowered it slowly. "Leave him alone Ha-bu, this one's cute."  
  
Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. "Sorry, I think you're a little beyond my time." he said with a glance at her halo. He now did believe he was in Hell, and he was curious about this 'Lord Garlic'. However, he didn't get the chance to ask any questions before the girl floated over to him and wrapper her arms over his shoulders, putting her face only inches from his.  
  
"Oh, come now." she said seductively. "Once you go dead, you never go back." She leaned in and planted her lips on his, quite to Vegeta's surprise. It took a moment but his mind recovered and activated his reflexes to having someone so close. His knee shot up and smashed into her stomach knocking the wind out of her. She floated back from him pouting.  
  
"Personal space issues." Vegeta said grinning. "I'm sure you understand."  
  
The large Ha-bu laughed deeply, truly amused. "Seems like there's someone who can resist your charms after all Shio! I never thought I'd see the day that someone didn't simply turn to putty at the sight of you!"  
  
Shio smirked. "That is odd, isn't it?" she said lightly. "Even Lord Garlic can't resist me..."  
  
"So just who is this Garlic?" Vegeta asked at last, quite entertained by the duo before him. "I am rather new around here."  
  
Shio nodded. "Yes, we don't get many live ones down here. Lord Garlic rules the Wastelands of Hell. His word is law around here, no one is greater than him in all the Wastelands."  
  
"And beyond?" Vegeta asked with an amused smirk.  
  
Ha-bu shrugged. "There's always someone stronger somewhere." he said. "But no-one around here has ever gone beyond the Wastelands, and no-one ever comes here. All we get are whispers of rumors that are millennia old."  
  
Shio nodded again. "Yes, the distance will do that. The Wastelands span more than five hundred million miles. We've sent troops out before but none have returned yet... though it's only been a couple hundred years."  
  
"So how'd you get here?"  
  
"Same as you." Ha-bu replied. "This was our point of arrival. Lord Garlic noted our skills and let us join his personal army."  
  
"Among other things." Shio said with a sly grin that caused Vegeta to grin in understanding. "Anyway, how did you end up down here while still alive? Yemma getting senile?"  
  
"I don't know anyone named Yemma. I'm here on some kind of Challenge that's supposed to make me stronger so I can kill more Demons."  
  
Ha-bu snarled suddenly Vegeta looked toward him. Shio's hand reached up and rested on the large man's arm. "What's with him?" the teen asked her.  
  
"He's part Demon, not that he much likes that fact, considering how it happened..." she replied before returning to comfort her friend. Vegeta didn't need her to spell it out for him, and it churned his stomach at the thought.  
  
"If you're here for that reason, then you'll have my help on this Challenge of yours!" Ha-bu declared.  
  
"I doubt I'll need it, but I do need a guide while I'm here."  
  
Ha-bu turned to the short woman beside him. "Go find Koshou, she'll want to know about this." Shio nodded and dropped toward the palace. "So, you know our names now. What's yours?"  
  
"Vegeta." he replied calmly but he noticed the raised eyebrow on the large Ha-bu. "What about it?" Vegeta asked suddenly miffed thinking the large man thought his name was strange.  
  
"It's just... I've heard it before." he said thinking for a moment. "Aw, no matter. I'm sure it'll come to me eventually." 


	11. Intensive Training

A/N: Don't worry, I'll be covering Vegeta's stay in hell with detail. But first, I must show what the others have been the two weeks Vegeta spent with Korin. I will return to Vegeta next chapter.  
  
Chapter Eleven - Intensive Training  
  
Krillin and Tien stood leaning against the support columns just side the entry to the Room of Spirit and Time. They'd been told by Kami that Goku would be emerging soon and that, when he did, they would be going in. Sure enough, a few moments later the door swung open slowly and Goku stepped out looking in top condition. "So, how'd it go?" Tien asked.  
  
"Amazing!" Goku chirped smiling. "I'm a lot stronger than when I went in!"  
  
Tien nodded and walked past him and through the door. "Well, see you later." Krillin said following after the three eyed Human. "It's our turn to train with the Kai, and your turn to go through the Dimensionalizer. Good luck Goku, you'll need." With that Krillin disappeared into the room.  
  
Goku watched after them scratching the back of his head for a moment. When he turned around he found Piccolo standing there waiting for him. "Follow me please." he said turning. Goku just shrugged and followed after him into another chamber elsewhere. The room was black and empty save for a single pendulum in the center of the room that swung lazily back and forth inside a beam of light. "Enter the light, Kami will transport you to a replica of another time and place so you can train."  
  
Goku walked forward and entered the light. A moment later a glare built up around him. When it faded he was standing the street of a ruined city. The ruined buildings were relatively short, even those that were still fairly intact. He glanced up and gazed at the red sky in wonder as the sounds of fighting reached his ears. Glancing in that direction he lifted into the air and took off.  
  
He pulled to a stop and looked down just as a Human looking girl drove her fist through the chest of a Bakor. A second later the attention of the five remaining demons became directed down the street and they floated backward. Goku turned to look and saw a short creature with short horns atop its head and a tail swishing behind it float toward the girl. "I will destroy you demon!" she called out.  
  
The demon laughed as two new Bakors drifted down to float beside him. The girl suddenly launched in at the demons. The two Bakors slid around beside her while the horned demon held it's ground. As she reached him he suddenly spun around and smashed his tail into her face. The two Bakors beside her lunged in at that point and jammed her head between there fists.  
  
She was just about to retaliate when a loud crack sounded and one of the Bakors was knocked into the distance. She turned to look and saw a young man in a red/orange GI with spiky black hair. He zipped around her and smashed his foot into the other Bakor as well knocking him into a building. "Looked like you could use a little help." he said grinning at her and holding out a hand. "Name's Goku!"  
  
She smiled at him and shook his hand quickly. "Serena." she said releasing his hand. "I thought everyone else was dead, nice to see I still have at least one ally."  
  
Goku grinned. "Would have been here soon, but I just got here." He turned to look at the horned demon as the two Bakors floated over to join him again. He slipped into his fighting stance and eyed them up. He could feel the energy from the three of them, and he wasn't too worried about one on one matches. The two Bakors shot in at him while the horned demon attacked Serena.  
  
Goku blocked a couple of punches, dodged around behind the weakest of the two Bakors, charged some energy around his fist, and slammed it into the Demon's back with a crack. As it fell toward the ground it's body disintegrated. Serena, Cold, and Frieza all looked up at him in shock. Suddenly both Demons charged him ignoring the girl's presence completely.  
  
Goku caught a kick from Frieza but wasn't fast enough to block the punch from Cold that sent him reeling into a building. He burst free of the rubble, his blue aura flashing about his body, and surged in at the Demons. He jammed his knee into Frieza's stomach and then backhanded him across the street before turning to Cold. He lashed out with a kick but the horned demon dodged it easily and then kicked him in the face.  
  
As Goku stabilized his fall from the kick he looked up to find Frieza charging orange energy in each hand and Cold charging purple energy in each hand. A second later Serena shot in and slammed her foot into the side of Frieza's head knocking him away. Cold ignored the attack on his other son and began showering purple energy down on Goku smirking.  
  
A moment later Goku's voice called up from below. "Kaio Ken!" There was a flash of red from within the barrage of purple and Goku shot up from the ground. His red aura flickered and danced wildly about his body as he slammed a fist into a shocked Cold. However, as he went to kick the Demon Cold recovered from his surprise and smashed his tail into Goku's face knocking him back again.  
  
Goku stopped as he heard a scream a few blocks deeper in the ruined city and turned to look. The remaining Bakor, Frieza, floated in the air screaming his head off, his body rippling and shifting. Horns grew atop his head as his body armor shifted from orange to white. "What!" Goku cried watching and feeling the Demons power spike up. /Oh man... this changes things!/  
  
Frieza slammed his fist into Serena's face then flipped around behind her and kicked her in the back toward Goku and the followed after. The two warriors floated side by side watching the Demons carefully. Then, in a flash of purple and blue the two demons launched in at them. The sky was a flurry of punches and kicks as they fought each other at high speeds. As Cold landed a hard blow to Goku knocking him back Frieza drove Serena into the ground.  
  
Goku braced his body as he eyed up the Demon. "Double Kaio Ken!" he cried. He felt his muscles tense and pull at the rush of extra energy and gritted his teeth. /Hopefully this is enough./ he thought as the two Demons floated before him. He glanced down and saw Serena pulling her self out of the road, holding her arm in pain. /She wont be much help now.../  
  
The two Demons attacked together but Goku managed to dodge both and burry his fist into Frieza's stomach. A swift kick to his face knocked the Demon into the sky and he turned toward Cold. Quickly he dodged under a tail swipe and then came up jamming his knee into his chin and knocking him up with his son. Goku shifted positions quickly and energy began to charge between his cupped palms. "Kaaaaaa.... Meeeeee..... Haaaaaa..... Meeeeee.... Haaaaaaaaaa!" He thrust his arms into the air and fired the stream of blue energy up at the two recovering Demons.  
  
Frieza and Cold held out their hands to catch the attack and began trying to drive it back. Goku focused and strengthened his attack as much as he could. The two Demons roared in anger as the attack suddenly overtook them. A moment later Goku relaxed and began panting as he stared up at the sky. When the smoke cleared it revealed both Demons floating there panting heavily. Suddenly one of them dipped down toward the ground and began to fall. As Frieza smashed into the ground his body began to disintegrate.  
  
Cold stared down at where his last son faded from existence and then turned to look at Goku. "What... what the hell are you!" he cried. Suddenly he launched down at the worn Goku as fast as he could and went to punch him yet again but Goku managed to dodge and counter with his own punch. Cold hit the ground and slid a few feet. It took a moment but he managed to climb back to his feet while panting heavily. His body began to glow and flash, his horns shifted and bent, and a scream tore free of his body. Goku's eyes went wide as he took a step back. There was a brilliant flash and Cold's transformation ended. He was now seven foot tall. In a flash he charged in and slammed his fist into Goku's stomach.  
  
He doubled over and fell to the ground expecting to be hit again, but suddenly he felt better. He still felt tired and weak but it as much. Looking up he realized he was back in the room Piccolo had taken him too. "What... happened?" he asked climbing to his feet.  
  
"You did well Goku." Kami said walking into the room. "You killed both Cooler and Frieza in that fight... but Cold's transformation was to much for you. That punch would have killed you in a real battle."  
  
"That wasn't real?"  
  
"Yes and no." Piccolo said. "Everything until you stepped in really happened before, but it was removed into a time space bubble when you arrived." he stopped seeing the look on Goku's face. "It's complicated and doesn't really matter."  
  
Goku just shrugged. "What about the girl?"  
  
Kami shook his head. "She's been dead over a thousand years Goku, nothing you could have done would have changed that."  
  
Goku's spirits dropped a little at that but he went through the Dimensionalizer again a moment later to another point in time. Over the course of the day Goku made seven trips through time and each time came back defeated. His seventh trip had been the shortest of the bunch. He'd asked to go back to when the Supreme Kai's had first been fighting Bura. He'd lasted all of ten seconds, which depressed him even further, and drove him even harder. After a quick meal he decided to get some sleep.  
  
The next day found him and Brolly waiting outside the Room of Spirit and Time for Krillin and Tien. Once they emerged the other teen would enter and get his training with King Kai as well. Something he was looking forward to, especially if he improved as much as Goku had. A few moments later the two Humans exited the room and Brolly went in. "So, how'd it go?" Goku asked.  
  
"Painfully." Krillin said rubbing his sore body. "That Kaio Ken thing is impossible! Every time either of us tried it we'd end up nearly blowing ourselves up!" Goku just grinned. "Man... it was something else though!"  
  
"Yeah, that's for sure." Tien said. "But I think that Kaio Ken is doable, just not easy. I almost had it last time. What about you Goku? How'd you do while you were with King Kai?"  
  
Goku scratched the back of his head and grinned for a moment, then turned and walked back a few feet. Turning around again he braced his body. "Double Kaio Ken!" The red aura flared to life about him as his body tensed with the energy. "This is the best I can do. King Kai said that if I use it enough I'll get better over time."  
  
"G-Goku, that's amazing!" Krillin cried staring at him. "With the Kaio Ken you're unstoppable!"  
  
Goku shook his head. "No... Kami sent me back to fight the Demons in the past and I kept losing... On my first trip I killed Cooler and Frieza but when Cold transformed that was it! And then, when I tried to fight Bura he beat me with just a causal flick of the wrist! It was incredible, I've never felt that kind of power before!"  
  
Tien nodded. "So we still have a long way to go then. We'd better get to work." For the rest of the day the three warriors sparred atop the lookout. Krillin was soon outmatched as even Goku needed the Kaio Ken to keep up with Tien but the short Human kept trying. The day came to a close, they ate, and went to bed. The next day was to bring some new surprises.  
  
Goku stood at the edge of the lookout watching the clouds below him as the sun rose to his right. "It's a sight, isn't it?" a young voice asked beside him.  
  
"Hmm?" Goku turned and saw the young Saiya standing beside him now, looking down at the clouds too. "Yeah it is..." Saiya looked up at him and Goku had a feeling of recognition as he looked down at the kid. "I heard Kami say you were from the future... is it the same as that thing I used?"  
  
Saiya shook his head. "No... I came back through magic yes, but not the same way. This way I can change the past."  
  
Goku nodded. "What's so wrong with the future that you had to come back and change it?"  
  
"Everything." Saiya replied. "Majin Buu rules everything in the future, he is the absolute. The Kai's are dead and I'm the strongest warrior left in the fight..."  
  
"Well, you're pretty strong though!" Goku said smiling. "Stronger than Tien, I can feel it."  
  
Saiya nodded. "Yeah... but it's never been enough..." He was cut off as Piccolo called for him to resume their training. At the same time Brolly emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time.  
  
"Hey! Done already?" Goku asked calling over.   
  
The other nodded. "Yeah. King Kai said he'd done all he could and told me I'd be wasting my time staying with him."   
  
Goku grinned. "Spar?"  
  
"You're on." The two moved apart and slid into fighting stances. A second later they were launching across the lookout at top speed. Their fists smacked into each other and they began to trade blows back and forth. The sounds of battle carried across the lookout and began to wake Tien and Krillin.  
  
As a hard kick sent Brolly spinning Goku grinned. Brolly landed and looked up smiling as well. "Alright, warm-ups over." he said standing up. "Kaio Ken!" In a flash of red he shot in at Goku who dodged to the side.  
  
"You're on! Kaio Ken!" Goku cried, his own red aura flaring up as well. The two shot in at each other again, flashes of red colliding in the sky. Cracks began forming on the lookout floor as they traded blows with their full power. Goku dodged around a sudden blast of energy and braced his body. "Double Kaio Ken!"  
  
At this point Tien and Krillin walked out and looked up. "Well, that's it for Brolly." Krillin said, but he was about to find out he was wrong.  
  
Brolly blocked a kick from Goku as best he could and then smiled. "This was fun Goku, but I want some breakfast. Triple Kaio Ken!" Goku's eyes widened in shock as he floated back. Suddenly Brolly shot in and slammed his fist into Goku's gut knocking the air out of him and he fell out of Kaio Ken. The spar was over.  
  
And so it went on like this for the next two weeks until Yamcha reached them. He needed the most work. First he was to go with Kara for the same training Krillin got, then Piccolo would give him the same training Brolly had, and then, at last, he'd get to train with King Kai. 


	12. The Wrath of Garlic

A/N: This starts off a bit dully, but it does pick up near the end. w00t! -Sing Song voice- Someone's going to get their butt kicked! XD  
  
Chapter Twelve - The Wrath of Garlic  
  
It only took a few moments for Shio to return with another young woman, presumably Koshou. She too had blue skin, only it was a bit darker than that of Shio's. Her hair was shoulder length and dark red and her eyes were silver. Vegeta could tell just by looking at her that she and Shio were sisters. "So you're the live one then." she stated more than asked. Her eyes moved up and down Vegeta for a few moments before turning around. "Follow me." she ordered before descending again.  
  
Ha-bu and Shio followed her instantly but Vegeta waited a moment. He had half a mind to blast her for bossing him around but his curiosity got the better of him and quickly caught up with them. As they touched down on the ground inside the castle walls Koshou turned to look at him again. "Shio informs me you are here on some sort of Challenge?"  
  
"Yes." Vegeta replied annoyed at needing to explain again.  
  
"Any idea what exactly it is?"  
  
"No idea. The stupid cat said it was different for everyone."  
  
"Right then. I'll take you to one of the empty rooms for now. Shio, Ha-bu, report to Lord Garlic about this."  
  
"At once." the two said in unison before walking off into the palace.  
  
Koshou led Vegeta through several halls before reaching one of the vacant rooms. Vegeta walked in and looked about. Like the rest of the palace it looked old. Stone floors, walls, and ceiling. The 'bed' was actually a cot strung up in one corner. Vegeta snorted as he climbed into the cot and stretched. /May as well take a nap until they get back./  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"What's the matter Ha-bu?" Shio asked as they walked down the hall.  
  
"Hmmm? Oh, nothing." the large man replied. "Just lost in thought is all. I'm trying to place that guy's name."  
  
"Oh, what is his name anyway, I never caught it."  
  
"Vegeta." the large man replied. It took a moment for him to realize that Shio wasn't beside him anymore. He stopped and looked back at her. She was standing perfectly still, eyes wide in a mix of emotions. "What is it? I know I've heard the name before bu..."  
  
Shio shook her head and walked past her large friend quickly. "We need to hurry." was all she said. Ha-bu shrugged and followed her down the hall to the large throne chamber. Walking in Shio scanned the room for Lord Garlic but didn't see the man. However, she did see the much shorter Garlic Jr. sitting in his throne staring at the ceiling in boredom. "Garlic Jr. Sir," Shio began as she knelt before the small man. "Where is your father, I need to speak with him."  
  
"He's out doing.... something." The small man replied as he reached up and began to pass his hand back and forth through his halo. "Said he doesn't want to be bothered unless it's important..."  
  
"This is sir. We have a live one."  
  
Garlic Jr. quit trying to touch his halo and looked at Shio. "A living person? Here?"  
  
"Yes sir." answered Ha-bu. "Says he's on some kind of Challenge."  
  
"Very well, very well." Garlic Jr. said sighing. "He's in the back courtyard." The two dead warriors nodded and stood. They moved around behind the thrones and through the door behind them emerging into the back courtyard. There they found the six foot tall Garlic floating in the center of the open expanse, legs crossed, a neon green glow shimmering about his body. The two of them stopped and remained still and quiet, not wanting to interrupt him.  
  
After a moment, and without bothering to open his eyes, he spoke. "Shio, Ha-bu, this had better be important."  
  
"It is sir." Shio replied softly. "We have a living person here on some sort of Challenge. He says his name.... he says he's Vegeta."  
  
Garlic's face contorted as his aura darkened to black. After a moment he straightened up and stood, his aura fading away and eyes snapping open. "Where?" he demanded.  
  
"Koshou took him to one of the empty rooms sir, she dosen't know."  
  
Garlic nodded and walked past her and back into the throne room. "Bring him to me." Garlic ordered before vanishing into the room.  
  
Ha-bu turned to look at Shio. "Mind telling me what this is about?" he asked. "I still can't place the name." The woman glanced at him a moment but said nothing before turning and leaving through a side exit. Ha-bu stared after her for a moment, his mind still trying to figure it out. /Something from her past perhaps? No... not likely... but with Lord Garlic's reaction it's definitely something from his past./ He began to follow after her as his mind continued to work on the matter. /Vegeta.... Vegeta... I know that I know that name! Think.... what could have Lord Garlic so upset..../  
  
Before he realized it he was standing outside the room Koshou had taken Vegeta too. The red haired woman was still standing outside the door, Shio had already gone in to get Vegeta. "Koshou, do you know what I'm not remembering?" he asked.  
  
"How should I know? I don't know what you're forgetting."  
  
"Neither do I. But both Shio and Lord Garlic have had... bad reactions to our guest's name."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Vegeta."  
  
Koshou turned her silver eyes toward Ha-bu and just stared at him. The large man was about to say more when Shio emerged from the room, Vegeta in tow. As he exited the room, arms crossed, and an air of either importance or arrogance about him Ha-bu's eyes widened. He watched the two of the disappear down the hall and out of sight before he managed to say anything. And then only two words escaped his lips. "Sai-jin King."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Lord Garlic, sir." Shio said entering the room. "I've brought Vegeta."  
  
The tall man and his much shorter son both turned to look at the teen who entered the room. Blue jeans, red t-shirt, leather jacket, spiky hair, and the same look of pride. The eye and hair color were different, but he was definitely Vegeta, definitely descended of that.... scum.  
  
"It's been a long time since I've seen a Sai-jin, even a dormant one." Garlic said after a moment. "Even longer since I've seen any of your family." Vegeta's eyebrows arched up. He'd not expected anyone to know him or any of his ancestors. The action didn't go unnoticed by Garlic. "Surprised? I take it you don't know much about your past."  
  
"I know enough. I'm descended from the last King of Sai-jins, the greatest of them all. That's all that matters."  
  
Garlic began to laugh, a deep rumble that echoed throughout the room. "Greatest of them all!" he roared, still laughing. "How times twist the truth." The mirth on his face vanished quickly as it hardened. "The only thing your ancestors were 'great' at was changing sides! I've waited twenty-five thousand years to run into one of his family and get my revenge!"  
  
"What _are_ you going on about!" Vegeta demanded, his gaze hardening into a glare.  
  
"The Demon Wars. Your ancestor, the last 'King' of Sai-jins, nearly destroyed everything!" he cried, pointing a finger at Vegeta as he stood. "The 'Great' King of Sai-jins led us and the rest of the army the Kai's had established right into an ambush! One he helped to set up!"  
  
"Non-sense!" Vegeta cried. "We would never work with Demons!"  
  
Garlic laughed again. "So naive! Your ancestor was afraid of Buu and instead of fighting him like a true warrior he made a deal with him! He'd help him bring down the Kai's and in exchange the Sai-jins would rule Otherworld and leave him alone. Do you know what happened in that ambush?" By now Garlic's fists were clenched and energy was beginning to spark across his body. "Six million were killed! Over ninety percent of them were Sai-jins. He single handedly brought us all to the verge of oblivion!"  
  
Despite Vegeta's best attempts to keep his face free of any sign of emotion his eyes were like windows into his thoughts. Garlic watched him for a moment, gauging his reaction. Finally he smirked. "Yes, your ancestor is the reason why so few Sai-jins exist, and those that do are only dormant within Human bodies." Garlic shook his head. "I missed what happened to him, some Demon finished me off before I could see that trash get what he deserved."  
  
In a fit of anger Vegeta thrust his arms forth releasing a stream of brilliant purple energy that surged toward Garlic. The energy hit and exploded rocking the room. But when the light and the smoke died Garlic remained standing, unharmed. "You really are as dumb as you look." Garlic snarled. "I could stand toe-to-toe with any Sai-jin twenty-five thousand years ago, do you really think you could even hurt me with that Human body?" Suddenly he vanished to reappear before the teen. There was a thunderous crack and Vegeta doubled over in pain, his eyes bulging and mouth open gasping for air.  
  
Garlic moved back a bit, moving his hand from Vegeta's abdomen. Clutching his stomach in pain the teen fell to his knees but refused to give in to the blackness that pulled at his mind. Garlic glared down at him a moment before his foot lanced up and smacked into the teens jaw knocking him several feet into the air. As he fell back toward the Earth Garlic slammed a punch into his chest knocking him across the room and into a wall where he was finally enveloped by the darkness. 


	13. Unseen Observer

A/N: There's almost ALWAYS more to it! :) Not that you'll all learn the full story for a while yet. :-P And a quick warning, I've been up for 20 hours so this may not be my greatest chapter... Oh, and sorry my updates are so slow. As I've said before I am also in the process of a Novel, plus my friends keep distracting me -- and I'm trying to not slow down a couple RPG's I'm involved in.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Thirteen - Unseen Observer  
  
Vegeta came to painfully. His back ached, his head was pounding, his sides were throbing, and he could tell his left arm was broken. Not the sort of thing he'd expected to happen during this little 'challenge' that damn cat had sent him on. With a low moan he managed to raise his head to get a look around. He was laying on his back on the stone floor of a small room, probably some kind of cell. He also appeared to be alone but that didn't last long.  
  
"Awake again I see." A voice said from behind. He dropped back down and looked behind him to see Shio sitting against the wall. She was leaning forward and had her head resting in her hands. "Get a good sleep Prince?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Lord Garlic usually dosen't use that much force, I'm surprsied you're still alive."  
  
"I'm f-fine." he managed.  
  
"Yes, so I see." she replied in a semi-mocking tone. "Well, I doubt you'll be 'fine' for much longer." she stood up and walked toward the open doorway. "I've been told to inform Lord Garlic once you've come to, seems he has some more talk to you about." With that she exited the room sliding the heavy stone door back into place. Under normal conditions Vegeta could have simply blasted it apart, but he was in no shape to do that.  
  
/Damn it. Who the hell is this Garlic guy?/ Vegeta wondered. /There's no way he's telling the truth, it can't be!/ He ground his teeth together as he fought the pain and sat up. "So n-now what do... I do? Some.. prince... of Sai-jin's I've t-turned out to be." he muttered. As he moved he felt three small objects inside his pants pocket. /What? Those Beans!/ Vegeta smirked as he reached his good hand into his pants and pulled out one of the beans. /This will do just fine, so long as that cat wasn't making up stories./  
  
Just as he put the bean in his mouth the door opened again. This time it was someone he'd not seen before. He looked Human. He was tall, at least seven foot, and extreamly well built. He had semi-spikey red hair. One tuft shot up and back, his bangs stuck out a few inches from his head before hanging down. The rest of his hair laid flat against his head. "And wh-who are you?" he asked pushing the bean to the side of his mouth.  
  
"I'm Supaisu." the large man replied. "One of the strongest Humans to ever live and Lord Garlic's head general. Now, get up, Lord Garlic wants to see you."  
  
"H-how about I j-just kick your... ass." Vegeta said grinning.  
  
Supaisu laughed. "Please, in your condition you're no match for an ant!"  
  
Vegeta bit down on the bean and chewed while Supaisu luahged. As he finished his declaration Vegeta swallowed. He felt his strength return almost instantly. His body quit hurting and his arm was suddenly fine, all indications it had been broken were gone. Vegeta's grin turned to a smirk as he climbed to his feet not even bothering to fake any injuries. Supaisu stared at him in shock. "What the hell!?" he cried. "You were barely alive a second ago!"  
  
"Well now I'm back in top condition, so sorry for you." Vegeta said. He thrust both arms forward quickly. There was a flash of purple from his cupped hands and the room shook as a stream of energy tore forward and slammed into Supaisu flinging him out of the small room and through the wall across the hall. "My energy's gotten a little stronger..." Veget murmured. "My Sai-jin spirit must be waking up." he smirked as he walked out of the room.  
  
Just as he emerged into the hall Supaisu came flying back through the hole he'd formed and smashed his fist into Vegeta's face knocking him back into the back wall of the cell. Vegeta growled as he started pulling himself out of the Vegeta shapped crater in the wall. He was barely out yet when Supaisu's fist smashed into his face again driving him back and through the stone wall compeltely, through the six feet of dirt and rock behind it, and then through another stone wall and into a large room.  
  
Vegeta fell to the ground and slid several feet before coming to a stop as he bumped into a stone pillar. His body was begining to hurt, again. He growled as he pulled himself to his feet and looked about. The room was full of tables, benches, and people eating. /What the hell? Dead people need to eat?/ Vegeta wondered before turning his attention back to Supaisu.  
  
/So now what do I do? This guy's definately strong./ He growled lightly as Supaisu walked toward him casually. /Stronger than me it would seem. Well, he HAS been around for a few thousand years, that gives him something of an edge./ Suddenly something else dawned on him. This Supaisu guy was probably holding back! There was a brilliant flash of purple about Vegeta's body followed by another and then another as his aura sputtered to life. In a burst of power he shot toward the ceiling scattering the tables in the room as he smashed through the ceiling and kept going up through several floors until he broke free into the sky above the palace and slid back several dozen yards so he could aim at the opening in the roof.  
  
/Take your time baka./ Vegeta grinned when he sensed that Supaisu was following him up at the same slow pace he'd been walking at. Vegeta pulled back and cupped his hands, the brilliant purple energy abot him flaring larger and brighter as he began to channel all of his power building the strongest blast he'd ever fired. Still Supaisu moved slowly upward, it took him almost three minutes to emerge from the hole in the palace roof and when he did his eyes widened in shock at the sight of Vegeta's gathering attack. Vegeta smirked and licked his lips. "Yes, you should never have given me time!" Vegeta called down to him. "Tell me something, can the dead die?! Well, I think we're about to find out!"  
  
Supaisu thrust his arms up toward Vegeta, palms open, white energy building in front of them. "To late!" Vegeta called down moving and thrusting his arms down at the dead Human. "Galick Gun Fire!" he shouted. There was a violent rush of power and light as the energy burst forth from around Vegeta and surged down at Supaisu.  
  
The Human let out a yell of his own as the white energy about his hands shot up and slammed head first into Vegeta's Galick Gun. When the two hit there was no contest, the Galick Gun continued to surge downward. Supaisu's energy wave pulsed and grew in size and power slowly and began to slow down Vegeta's attack. Only a few feet from the large man the attack's stopped and then began to go back the other way. "What!" Vegeta cried. "No way!"  
  
Supaisu grined and laughed. "I've only ever met one Human stronger than me! You aren't even close!"  
  
Vegeta clenched his teeth and growled for a second. Then he shifted his arms pulling them back a bit. "I'm only just getting started you little!" The energy about his hands bulged as the Galick Gun continued to charge down Supaisu. "Take this, Super Galick Gun!" He thrust his arms down again and the energy about him temporarily flared larger before shrinking down to the width of a basketball. The extra energy charging down the middle of the Galick plowed into and through the dead Human's energy wave and slammed into him driving him down through the palace and causing about ten percent of the structure to collapse as Supaisu slammed into the ground. The energy following him down did the same and exploded violently taking out everything in a fifty yard radius.  
  
Vegeta floated above the palace, arms still pointed down, panting heavily. He swayed in the air trying to keep himself up. "Damn baka made me... use all my energy..." he panted. He drifted down to the crater he'd blasted out and landed. In the center he could see Supaisu just barely under some debris. "Hmph, that'll teach you."  
  
"I'm impressed." a voice said from behind him. Vegeta turned and saw Shio, Koshou, and Ha-bu. It was Koshou who had spoken. "You managed to beat Supaisu, even if he wasn't taking the fight seriously. I still haven't figured out how you healed so quickly, but that's not important." she shook her head. "Look, you're just making this hard for yourself, delaying the inevitable. Surrender."  
  
"Not a ch-chance in hell." he said smirking.  
  
Ha-bu stood back from the other two just watching for a moment. Koshou suddenly shot in at Vegeta and smashed her fist into his face knocking him back into the palace and then chasing after him. Ha-bu shook his head and looked at Shio. "I don't know who's side I'm on here." he said. "He may be a descendant of the Sai-jin King but he fights against the Demons."  
  
Shio frowned. "I know how you feel but orders are orders. Lord Garlic would have your head and I don't even think my charms could save y..." she was cut off as a loud crack sounded and Koshou was knocked through a wall and back into the open.   
  
Koshou crashed down into the ground with a thud and slid a few feet before stopping. Climbing back to her feet she wiped a little dirt off her face. "Where the hell did that power come from." she muttered as Vegeta floated out of the hole in the wall smirking. "When second his nearly out of power and the next he's back to full strength again."  
  
"Full and beyond." Vegeta said grinning. /Those beans, they don't just heal me... they're awakening my sleeping Sai-jin spirit, they have to be. I've never gotten stronger after recovering before. Well, I'll ask the cat about that later./ "Now, I believe I was in the process of beating you into pulp." he smirked and shot in at Koshou but the woman caught his punch with little trouble.  
  
"So sorry Vegeta, but didn't I tell you? Only Lord Garlic and his son have more power than I do." She slamed her head into his and knocked him backward. He flipped in the air and shot back in again but she smashed her knee into his face before he even saw her move. He thrust his arm out as he flew backwards and fired a stream of purple energy but she swatted it away without even trying. She went to charge after him but suddenly found someone in her way.  
  
"Move it Ha-bu." she ordered.  
  
"Sorry Koshou, I can't." he said shaking his head. "Vegeta or not he's against the Demons, that's all that matters to me."  
  
Vegeta landed and stared at him for a moment. "I don't need any help." he huffed. Ha-bu snorted but did nothing else.  
  
Shio floated over beside her sister and looked across at Ha-bu. "Don't do this. I know how you feel but turning on Lord Garlic isn't the way."  
  
"I'm not." Ha-bu said shaking his head. "I'm not turning on Lord Garlic, I'm just making sure Vegeta has the chance to kill more Demons."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Standing the distance beyond what anyone in the palace could see a man crossed his arms. He'd felt the familiar power the second it appeared and gone to watch. Twice now he'd felt the power drop, once he'd missed what happened but the second time he'd watched the energy attack. He wasn't completely impressed but he couldn't deny the pride that was still there. He loved the fact that the power kept coming back no matter how badly beaten it had been moments before. Now his green eyes watched with interest as the red skinned man sided with Vegeta. 


	14. A Glimpse of Gold

A/N: Eeep. Sorry this took so long.... I sorta lost interest in this one for a bit as I was working on Day of Darkness. And then a couple new Original Novel ideas came to mind so I started on them, then I started Unrivaled, Return of Recoome, and then The Darkness Overcomes you, and I've got a girlfriend too, and... Life is hectic. Fun, but hectic.  
  
Chapter Fourteen - A Glimpse of Gold  
  
The four warriors stood motionless for a moment before Koshou suddenly shot forward. Ha-bu brought his arms up and blocked her punch but was still knocked backward a few feet. With a cry he lunged in at her and the two began to exchange blows. "What are you waiting for!" Ha-bu called back to him. "Get moving!"  
  
"I will not ru..." Vegeta was cut off by a loud crack and fist slamming into his face. Shio had decided to quit just standing around and get involved in the fight. Vegeta stabilized himself just in time to block another punch from Shio, much to her surprise. Vegeta grinned as he brought his knee up and smashed it into her jaw. He swung a fist at her but she dodged around to the side and then threw a kick of her own. Vegeta ducked under it and then smashed a fist into her stomach.  
  
/This isn't possible.../ Shio thought as she pulled back holding her stomach. /How is he able to keep up with me? Well, no matter, I can fix that quickly enough./ Shio smirked and drifted back from Vegeta clenching her fists. Her aura flickered to life and then she threw her arms and head back with a loud scream. Energy rippled out about her as her muscles bulked, her hair waving in the wind she was making.  
  
Her five foot from began to stretch then and Vegeta watched on in shock. After a moment she was seven and a half foot tall and her muscles were far more obvious. Her skin tone had deepened considerably to a midnight blue, her orange hair was now red and her eyes were purple. "Now, where were we?" she asked smirking.  
  
Vegeta drifted back. A common trait among call creatures was the ability to transform but he'd never encountered it beyond that Saibaman from before. Vegeta shot in with a cry and swung his right fist at her face as hard and fast as he could. It connected with it's target with a loud crack but Shio didn't move. Vegeta's eyes widened and he drifted backwards. "Wha-what! There's no way!"  
  
"I told you to go!" Ha-bu shouted down. With a growl he turned back to Koshou and clenched his fists. Ha-bu let out a roar as his body suddenly bulked up. His muscles bulged larger, he grew four foot taller, went bald, and his eyes turned pure red. A bright red aura pulsing about him he shot in at Koshou. Shio noticed his transformation and launched up to help her sister and the three vanished from sight.  
  
/What! They're that fast that I can't see them!/  
  
"You really should go know, while they are distracted." a voice said from behind Vegeta.  
  
The prince turned and his eyes widened. The man standing before him looked so much like him and his father. His skin was a bit more tan, he had a mustache but no beard, his hair was blonde, and his eyes green, but otherwise... he was a spitting image of them. "Who... are you?"  
  
"An old friend." he replied. "I don't know how you got here while still alive but you really should go."  
  
"I can't just leave. I have to finish this... challenge, whatever the hell it is, first. Otherwise the portal wont open."  
  
"Portal? Challenge? Wait, were you sent down here by a talking frog?"  
  
Vegeta arched an eyebrow. "Frog? No, it was a cat."  
  
"Figures. Stupid Kais, they did this, didn't they?" The blonde looked up at the three fighting figures. "So, what are they up to now? Hmm? Why send you down here?"  
  
"Training." Vegeta replied. "For the coming war."  
  
"War?"  
  
"The Demons are free again and they are trying to revive Buu." Vegeta growled. "I can't even stand up to these three! I need to become stronger to defeat the Demons, I'll never win otherwise. Not on my own at least." There was a light crackle above Vegeta's head and he looked up. The space was distorting and shifting as a hole began to open.  
  
"Looks like you accomplished what you came for Vegeta." the blonde man said. "To discover and admit to yourself that you can't do this alone and that you aren't unbeatable. I should know, I had to learn the same thing myself a long time ago. Don't forget this, and don't let your ego or pride get in your way either."  
  
Vegeta looked at him for a moment but the man suddenly vanished. With a last glance at the flashes of light above him from the battle Vegeta lifted up and passed through the opening which closed behind him. He passed up through the tunnel of darkness quickly, eyes locked on the pin of light above him. Slowly it grew larger and larger. Despite how fast he was climbing it still took him a good ten minutes to emerge into the lower chamber of the tower.  
  
As his feet clicked back down on the floor he heard soft applause behind him. "Not bad Vegeta, not bad." Korin said. "You pulled that off in only a week."  
  
"A week! What are you going on about? I was there for a day at the most!"  
  
Korin shook his head. "No, it was a weak. Were you ever knocked out while down there?"  
  
"Yes but..."  
  
"Then there's your lost time Vegeta, but either way you were down there for a week. Now, get moving, up to the Lookout with you."  
  
"But what about..."  
  
"Moving me? No need. You passed the challenge, that's just as good."  
  
"Good." Vegeta said walking past him and towards the steps. He was jut about to begin climbing up them when he stopped and looked back at the cat. "This may sound strange, but... did a Frog have your position before you?"  
  
"No." Korin replied. Vegeta frowned and turned to head back up the steps. Korin waited until he'd taken a couple steps before speaking. "Yaser, the Frog you speak of, held this position long before I was even born. He was the second to be here. I am the hundredth."  
  
Vegeta stopped again and looked back at Korin for a long moment. Suddenly he began to smirk as he turned and climbed the stairs again.  
  
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  
  
Goku, Brolly, Krillin, and Yamcha all lay on the lookout staring up at the sky and panting heavily. Behind them sat Tien meditating. "Owwww." Krillin moaned again. "My whole body hurts now..."  
  
"Yeah... great isn't it?" Goku asked grinning.  
  
"You're a strange one Goku." Krillin muttered.  
  
Standing a few feet away, arms crossed, was Piccolo. He was breathing heavily as well but not nearly as badly as the five downed Humans. "That was better." he said gruffly. Krillin and Yamcha had just spared against Tien while Brolly and Goku had gone against him. "But still not nearly enough. I have about as much chance at beating Cold as you two," he nodded to Krillin and Yamcha, "Have at beating me."  
  
The two sat up partially, groaned, and then fell back down again. "Give us a break Piccolo!" Krillin cried. "We're only Human."  
  
"Tien, Brolly, and Goku are Human as well." Piccolo replied. "So is Saiya and he can almost beat me."  
  
Yamcha groaned again and sat up. "Man, if I'd known what was going to happen if I went Dragonball hunting with Bulma last month I never would have gone." He rubbed the back of his head as he climbed shakily to his feet. "How much longer until the Budokai anyway? I mean, we are still entering, right?"  
  
Piccolo nodded. "It will be good training, but the tournament is still a few months off."  
  
Goku suddenly sat up grinning. "Vegeta!" he called out. Piccolo grinned as the others looked at him and then around the lookout for any sign of the arrogant teen but saw nothing. Krillin was about to say something when Vegeta came up from below and landed on the edge of the lookout. "Yeah! I knew it was you sensed! Where have you been?!"  
  
"I see you passed the Challenge." Kami said emerging from the Shrine. "And in record time I might add." He looked over to Popo. "Mr. Popo, if you will."  
  
"Yes Kami." The man said before floating over and landing across from Vegeta. "Now you must take the same test as the others. Hit me with a KI blast, you get three tries."  
  
Vegeta frowned at him as he looked over to the others. The others, save Tien and Piccolo, were watching with interest. Vegeta turned his gaze back toward Popo and raised an arm pointing it at him. A ball of purple KI formed in front of his arm and surged for Popo but vanished a few inches away. "What?!"  
  
"It is harder to use KI here than down on the Earth." Popo explained. "Your skill and heart, among other things, will determine if the attack will work or fail, and how it will appear. Try again."  
  
Vegeta raised his arm again and purple KI began to arc around his palm once more. And then he remembered what the other man had told him down in Hell and the reason he'd been sent on the Challenge. Suddenly the energy around his palm began to shift blue. After a moment longer he fired the energy and as it moved through the air it turned golden before slamming into Popo's outstretched arm.  
  
"Nicely done Vegeta." Kami said. "You seem to be ready, come, follow me." He turned walked back into the Shrine with Vegeta following a moment later.  
  
"Man, I can't wait until he's done with the main training. I could already feel that his power had increased considerably compared to before..." Goku said.  
  
"Never mind him for now." Piccolo grunted as he uncrossed his arms. "Tien, you're up. We'll let these other weaklings get some rest."  
  
Tien opened his eyes and floated up onto his feet. "Ready when you are Piccolo." 


End file.
